A Review of Empathy, Its Importance, and Its Teaching in Surgical Training.
J Surg Educ
; 75(1): 88-94, 2018.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28716384
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
There has been much discussion in the medical literature about the importance of empathy and physician communication style in medical practice. Empathy has been shown to have a very real positive effect on patient outcomes. Most of the existing literature speaks to its role in medical education, with relatively little empiric study about empathy in the surgical setting.OBJECTIVE:
Review of empathy and its importance as it pertains to the surgeon-patient relationship and improving patient outcomes, and the need for increased education in empathy during surgical training.METHODS:
The published, peer-reviewed literature on patient-physician and patient-surgeon communication, medical student and resident education in empathy, and empathy research was reviewed. PubMed was queried for MESH terms including "empathy," "training," "education," "surgery," "resident," and "communication."RESULTS:
There is evidence of a decline in empathy that begins during the clinical years of medical school, which continues throughout residency training. Surgeons are particularly susceptible to this decline as by-product of the nature of their work, and the current lack of formalised training in empathic patient communication poses a unique problem to surgical residents.CONCLUSIONS:
The literature suggests that empathy training is warranted and should be incorporated into surgical residencies through didactics, role-playing and simulations, and apprenticeship to empathic attending role models.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Relaciones Médico-Paciente
/
Cirugía General
/
Empatía
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Surg Educ
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article