Can A Curriculum Cultivate Empathy In Med Students?
It seems that there are medical schools taking the initiative to help their students become more compassionate. It’s a worthy goal but I don’t know if it’s possible. We can teach individuals to act compassionate. But that, of course, is different from being compassionate. While there may be literature to support the cause, I don’t think that a curriculum can cultivate empathy.
Is it possible to change a student or doctor’s heart? Of course, I see it all the time. But not from role playing or small groups. It’s human circumstances that drive change. Personal loss and life experience tempered by introspection and humility change how we see those around us. It’s only when we recognize our own vulnerability that we can begin to see it in others. This doesn’t happen in a classroom. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
Jay Radcliffe is a fellow type 1 diabetic, and I remember reading his diabetes blog way back in the day, when I first started blogging. We read and commented on each other’s posts, and we were both part of the blogosphere when the DOC first started to grow. I knew he was married, had children, and did the day-to-day diabetes stuff that I did.
