Morning Edition, June 26, 2007 · A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that many doctors waste patients' time — and lose their focus — by interjecting irrelevant information about themselves.

Researchers say physicians disclosed personal information in about one-third of office visits, and 85 percent of the disclosures weren't helpful to the patient.

They may be trying to put their patients at ease, but once doctors started yakking about themselves, they rarely returned to the original topic.