Shared Decision Making

Over time, there have been major changes in the role of doctors and patients in decision-making. Shared Decision Making implies that doctors and patients make a decision jointly after communicating information about treatment options, benefits, and harms, and then considering the patient's values, circumstances and preference. Historical evolution, the reason why we need SDM, patients' perceptions of SDM, and how to implement SDM in clinical practice were introduced in this paper, which illuminated that medicine should be practiced with not only new evidence and techniques but also patient-centered communication skills. With shared decision-making, we can build a good doctor-patient relationship, be aware of patients' preference, and achieve optimal patient care.