Caring for the Patient

Blumgart, Herrman L.

doi:10.1056/nejm196402272700906

Cited by 83 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Because sympathy, if excessive, could interfere with objectivity in diagnosis and treatment (7,9), "compassionate detachment" has been used to describe the physician's empathetic concern for the patient while keeping sympathy at a reasonable distance to maintain an emotional balance (9,10). Hence, an "affective distance" would be desirable to avoid bursts of emotions that might interfere with clinical neutrality and personal durability (11).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Hojat¹,

Gonnella²,

Nasca³

et al. 2002

AJP

1,030

956

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Hojat¹,

Gonnella²,

Nasca³

et al. 2002

AJP

1,030

956

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“…The emotional relationships that elicit emotional response are conceptually more relevant to sympathy than to empathy [12]. Because sympathy, if excessive, could interfere with objectivity in diagnosis and treatment [11,13], “compassionate detachment” has been used to describe the physician’s empathetic concern for the patient while keeping sympathy at a reasonable distance to maintain an emotional balance [13,14]. Hence, an “emotional distance” would be desirable to avoid bursts of emotions that might interfere with clinical neutrality and personal durability [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative cross-sectional study of empathy among first year and final year medical students in Jimma University, Ethiopia: Steady state of the heart and opening of the eyes

et al. 2012

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BackgroundThere is general consent that empathy is crucial for the physician-patient relationship and thus an important issue in medical education. This comparative study was designed to examine the differences in empathy between first year and final year medical students in Jimma University, Ethiopia.Methods A comparative cross-sectional study among 131 first year and 106 final year medical students was conducted in Jimma University, Ethiopia on academic year 2010/11. The study subjects were selected using simple random sampling technique from the list of the students. Study participation was voluntary. The Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) was used for the detection of “heart-reading”, i.e. emotional empathy and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RME-R test) to evaluate “mind-reading”, i.e. cognitive empathy. We performed t-test to compare the mean difference in empathy and RME-R scores between the two groups of students. A linear regression was computed to identify potential factors influencing the BEES and RME-R.ResultsOut of the total 237 students, 207 (87.3%) were males. The mean age of first year and final year students was 19.3 ± 1.1 and 24.0 ± 1.4 years respectively. First year students have scored 40.6 ± 23.8 while final year students scored 41.5 ± 20.8 mean in the BEES measuring emotional empathy score. However, this difference was not statistically significant (t = −0.30, df = 231, P-value >0.05). Final year students had significantly higher mean cognitive empathy score (17.8 ± 4.5) than first year students (14.4 ± 4.8) [β = 2.7, 95%CI (1.20, 4.13)]. Males had scored lower cognitive [β = −2.5, 95%CI (−4.37, −0.66)] and emotional empathy [β = −12.0, 95%CI (−21.66, −5.46)].ConclusionsLow emotional (BEES) and cognitive empathy sores were found in first year and final year students of Jimma University could have implications on the medical education curricula. Medical education targeted at enhancing emotional empathy and increasing cognitive empathy is required by segmenting with gender for effective physician-patient interaction. The influence of empathy on clinical competence should be studied using more rigorous design.

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“…The physician shares his understanding with the patient, but none of his emotions. This view, otherwise characterized as "detached concern" (Fox & Lief, 1963), "neutral empathy" (Blumgart, 1964), or "compassionate detachment" (Hojat, 2002b(Hojat, , p. 1563) was defended by Sir William Osler (1912) as essential to avoiding over-identification with patients, compromising both the physician's "clinical neutrality" and "personal durability" (Hojat, 2002b(Hojat, , p. 1563. Instead of experiencing the patient's suffering alongside them, the physician should "see into" and "study" the patient's "inner life" from an objective standpoint (Osler, 1963, p. 29).…”

Section: What Is Empathy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Empathy Necessary for the Practice of “Good” Medicine

Bouma¹

2008

TOJ

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Abstract:Medicine is explicitly committed to the traditional values of empathy, compassion, and altruism. Along with the "middle" principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and respect for autonomy, these are among the values which form the ethical framework by which physician conduct is evaluated. But how is empathy to be understood as fundamental to the practice of ethical medicine? Should it be construed as a moral obligation? In this paper, I argue that empathy in the treatment of patients should not be upheld as a moral requirement for the practice of "good" medicine: such a construal of the role of empathy in professionalism cannot be supported by the substantive theories of utilitarianism, deontology, feminist ethics, or virtue ethics. Moreover, empirical research into the nature of empathy shows it to be a trait that varies substantially between individuals and that variation is governed to a notable degree by factors beyond the individual's control.

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Caring for the Patient

Cited by 83 publications

References 3 publications

Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Comparative cross-sectional study of empathy among first year and final year medical students in Jimma University, Ethiopia: Steady state of the heart and opening of the eyes

Is Empathy Necessary for the Practice of “Good” Medicine

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