Paging Doctor Rozier

My interview was with a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, Antonio Rozier in his third year of residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He attended Morehouse University for undergrad and Boston University School of Medicine. I chose to interview him because he is a friend of the family and I did not know much about his field of work. I thought this was a great opportunity to learn more about it. I also thought he could give me a great point of view. I have never met Dr. Rozier in person but he was more than happy to help me with my school work.

He lives and works in Alabama, so I had to do a phone interview. I had never done a phone interview before. I had never been an interviewer before. It was different being able to ask all the questions. I am not a very assertive person and this assignment focused me to be. I believe phone interviews are more difficult than normal face to face ones. Dr. Rozier was “on call” during our interview and was interrupted a few times. There was additionally quite a bit of noise in the background which made hearing challenging. It was also a little harder because the nonverbal communication was completely eliminated.

Without nonverbal it was hard to give positive feedback to what Dr. Rozier was saying. I usual smile to let others know I’m listening and engaged and interested in what they are saying. Being on the phone, I was forced to interject and say things such as “oh”, “okay”, and “uh-huh”. I found this slightly frustrated but I definitely got used to it.

I could tell the nonverbal was difficult for him as well. After he was done each question he would say, “Next question”, to let me know he was done answering. I found this helping to know I could move one when I was ready. He spoke very clearly and often elaborated without me asking. He gave full and complete answers. He often started his answers with a pause, which showed me he really thought about his answers.

I found being on the phone actually made the both of us more comfortable. I was able to collect my thoughts without worrying about making silly or unattractive faces. I could sit however I wanted without worry about my posture or any other body language. I was also able to type without him listening to make him feel more comfortable and less like he was on the spot. Since we have never met I think it being on the phone really helped the interview go very smoothly.

I believe the most important questioned I asked was “Do conflicts occur more with patients or with other doctors, nurses, and staff members?”. This question led the entire second half of the interview. Dr. Rozier answer to this question determined how the rest of my questions would be asked. This also led to the topic I will be discussing in my group presentation tomorrow. He said that more conflicts happen with patients’ family members as suppose to conflict with actual patients. He went on to add that conflict does happen with doctors, nurse, and other staff members.

It was nice to learn about an aspect of the medical field that many people do not know about. I truly enjoyed my interview with Dr. Antonio Rozier. It was one of the most relaxed interviews I have been a part of and I am delighted with the information I learned.