Empathy in Medical Education: Its Nature and Nurture - a Qualitative Study of the Views of Students and Tutors.

Autor: Laughey WF; Health Professions Education Unit, Hull York Medical School, York, UK., Atkinson J; School of Medical Education, Newcastle University Medical School, Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Craig AM; School of Medical Education, Newcastle University Medical School, Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Douglas L; Health Professions Education Unit, Hull York Medical School, York, UK., Brown ME; Health Professions Education Unit, Hull York Medical School, York, UK., Scott JL; School of Medical Education, Newcastle University Medical School, Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Alberti H; School of Medical Education, Newcastle University Medical School, Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK., Finn GM; Health Professions Education Unit, Hull York Medical School, York, UK.; Division of Medical Education, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Medical science educator [Med Sci Educ] 2021 Oct 15; Vol. 31 (6), pp. 1941-1950. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Oct 15 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI: 10.1007/s40670-021-01430-8
Abstrakt: Context: Medical education is committed to teaching patient centred communication and empathy. However, quantitative research suggests empathy scores tend to decline as students progress through medical school. In qualitative terms, there is a need to better understand how students and tutors view the practice and teaching of clinical empathy and the phenomenon of empathic erosion.
Methods: Working within a constructivist paradigm, researchers thematically analysed the individual interview data from a purposive sample of 13 senior students and 9 tutors.
Results: The four major themes were as follows: (1) 'the nature of empathy', including the concept of the innate empathy that students already possess at the beginning of medical school; (2) 'beyond the formal curriculum' and the central importance of role modelling; (3) 'the formal curriculum and the tick-box influence of assessments'; and (4) the 'durability of empathy', including ethical erosion and resilience. A garden model of empathy development is proposed - beginning with the innate seeds of empathy that students bring to medical school, the flowering of empathy is a fragile process, subject to both enablers and barriers in the formal, informal, and hidden curricula.
Conclusion: This study provides insights into empathic erosion in medical school, including the problems of negative role modelling and the limitations of an assessment system that rewards 'tick-box' representations of empathy, rather than true acts of compassion. It also identifies factors that should enable the flowering of empathy, such as new pedagogical approaches to resilience and a role for the arts and humanities.
Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.
(© The Author(s) 2021.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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