Empathy in Medicine

 

  
The Greater Good Science Center features an excellent 07/08/15 article by Jill Suttie ~ Should We Train Doctors for Empathy? 

The negative story in the article reminded me of my mother's experience when she was not much older than I am now.  She had been admitted into the hospital for a scheduled, relatively minor procedure.  Her personal physician stopped by for a visit & while there said, "While you're stretched out, how about if I do a breast check?"  He found a teeny lump & immediately arranged a specialist appointment for Mom.

The oncologist was about as UNempathetic as they come.  He was blunt to the point of brutal.  Praise be for Mom, she flat-out told her personal doc, "NO how, no way I am letting THAT man set a finger on me."  Which is how she was connected with her beloved Dr. Domkowski - Dr. Dom.  What a brilliantly empathetic man!  He did precisely what the other specialist had outlined, but he had first informed Mom every step of the way, making her feel part of the team rather than a bug under a microscope.  

This was well over thirty years ago, when most specialists expected patients to be passive recipients of care, considered it presumptuous to the point of insult for them to expect to be informed about options  & treatment plans.  

Reading the article, seems like some medical professionals could use a crash course in empathy.  As the patient in the articles notes:
The orthopedist who gave me my diagnosis, however, was not particularly sympathetic. He pointedly ignored my tears while presenting me with the hard facts, answering my questions—like, “How could this happen to me?”—with answers that were technically precise but emotionally detached. And, while he spoke, he didn’t make eye contact, reassure me, or make any other effort at acknowledging my pain and confusion.  

Needless to say, I didn’t choose him as my surgeon. Instead, I later found an orthopedist I could talk to—someone who listened, didn’t use bluster to convince me of the right course to take, and seemed to genuinely care about my welfare.

The article has me thinking about two of our dearest friends, a married couple who became internists in their late 30s & early 40s.  They are standouts for their sense of kindness & engaged care.  Both listen as much or more than they speak, both focus on what a patient is telling them rather than just what they're learning through their stethoscope & testing.  Both bring a special depth to medicine - one has a B.S. in nutrition, the other a PhD in physiology. But most of all, both respond to their patients as people rather than pathology.  Their patients trust their skills AND their hearts.

      

More & more universities consider compassion in developing physician training.  Consider Stanford's Center for Compassion & Altruism Research & Education, offering courses that develop qualities of compassion, empathy & kindness and certification (!) as a Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) Trainer.  When a leader like Stanford writes "We've all heart the old adage an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what about a smile?" & then presents scientific research findings on the quantifiable power of kindness to heal - well, any complaints about empathy being touch-feeling foolishness are shown to be rubbish.

For ourselves as much for our families & loved ones, EVERYONE should read Should We Train Doctors for Empathy?  Clearly, the answer is YES.  And we all should understand WHY in order to know when we're not getting it & to - like Mom & the woman whose story opens the article - settle for nothing less.