What is clinical empathy?

doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x

Review

. 2003 Aug;18(8):670-4.

doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x.

What is clinical empathy?

Jodi Halpern¹

Affiliations

PMID: 12911651
PMCID: PMC1494899
DOI: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x

Review

What is clinical empathy?

Jodi Halpern. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug.

. 2003 Aug;18(8):670-4.

doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x.

Author

Jodi Halpern¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Health and Medical Sciences, University of California, Berkeley-Berkeley, Calif 94720-1190, USA. jhalpern@socrates.berkeley.edu

PMID: 12911651
PMCID: PMC1494899
DOI: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x

Abstract

Patients seek empathy from their physicians. Medical educators increasingly recognize this need. Yet in seeking to make empathy a reliable professional skill, doctors change the meaning of the term. Outside the field of medicine, empathy is a mode of understanding that specifically involves emotional resonance. In contrast, leading physician educators define empathy as a form of detached cognition. In contrast, this article argues that physicians' emotional attunement greatly serves the cognitive goal of understanding patients' emotions. This has important implications for teaching empathy.

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Research on patient-clinician relationships: celebrating success and identifying the next scope of work.
Suchman AL. Suchman AL. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug;18(8):677-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30615.x. J Gen Intern Med. 2003. PMID: 12911653 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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References

1. Learning objectives for medical student education-guidelines for medical schools: Report I of the Medical School Objectives Project. Acad Med. 1999;74:13–8. - PubMed
1. Bertakis KD, Roter D, Putnam SM. The relationship of physician medical interview style to patient satisfaction. J Fam Pract. 1991;32:175–81. - PubMed
1. Markakis K, Frankel R, Beckman H, Suchman A. Teaching empathy: it can be done. Working paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, San Francisco, Calif, April 29–May 1, 1999.
1. Blumgart H. Caring for the patient. N Engl J Med. 1964;270:449–56. - PubMed
1. Aring C. Sympathy and empathy. JAMA. 1958;167:448–52. - PubMed

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[1] Learning objectives for medical student education-guidelines for medical schools: Report I of the Medical School Objectives Project. Acad Med. 1999;74:13–8. - PubMed

[2] Learning objectives for medical student education-guidelines for medical schools: Report I of the Medical School Objectives Project. Acad Med. 1999;74:13–8. - PubMed

[3] Bertakis KD, Roter D, Putnam SM. The relationship of physician medical interview style to patient satisfaction. J Fam Pract. 1991;32:175–81. - PubMed

[4] Bertakis KD, Roter D, Putnam SM. The relationship of physician medical interview style to patient satisfaction. J Fam Pract. 1991;32:175–81. - PubMed

[5] Markakis K, Frankel R, Beckman H, Suchman A. Teaching empathy: it can be done. Working paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, San Francisco, Calif, April 29–May 1, 1999.

[6] Markakis K, Frankel R, Beckman H, Suchman A. Teaching empathy: it can be done. Working paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine, San Francisco, Calif, April 29–May 1, 1999.

[7] Blumgart H. Caring for the patient. N Engl J Med. 1964;270:449–56. - PubMed

[8] Blumgart H. Caring for the patient. N Engl J Med. 1964;270:449–56. - PubMed

[9] Aring C. Sympathy and empathy. JAMA. 1958;167:448–52. - PubMed

[10] Aring C. Sympathy and empathy. JAMA. 1958;167:448–52. - PubMed

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What is clinical empathy?

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What is clinical empathy?

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