Approximately 60% of Polish patients examined from the aspect of satisfaction are dissatisfied with the health services, and over 70% of respondents expressed the opinion that they are inadequately informed, while in the opinions of 84% of respondents their rights were not respected. More comprehensive analysis indicated that patients, while specifying their satisfaction with the contact with medical staff, consider not only their knowledge and skills in the area of medicine (the technical aspect of the medical profession), but also mainly their skills in the area of interpersonal communication. A good preparation for the occupation is often defined as professionalism. In medicine, this term covers the scope of knowledge and skills indispensable for practicing medical occupations. Unfortunately, in everyday practice, the ‘professional’ doctor is perceived by a patient as a person deprived of openness, feelings and warmth, which are necessary characteristics for interpersonal communication. This evokes not only the lack of patient satisfaction, but also contributes to the presentation by doctors of pathological attitudes towards patients. The adequate understanding of professionalism is the knowledge and skills of not crossing the border between distance and engagement. Both parties in this relationship – the medical professional and the patient – strive towards one goal, which is the health of the patient; therefore, while cooperating, each of them has information at their disposal which is not available to the other party. In addition, proper communication results in an increase in trust for the medical professional as a specialist, and thus increases the probability of the continuation of treatment in ‘this particular’ hospital and by ‘this particular’ specialist, which is not without importance in the situation of increased competition in medical circles.