The new way to become professional, detaching ourselves from the cold “professional medical gaze” could consist in activating our mirror neurons, and to understand patients’ emotions, keep going in not forgetting that there is always a double role which should be plaid, the human being inside and the carer dressing his/her white coat.
But when empathy is start to get damaged? A possible answer is given in “The Devil is in the Third Year: A Longitudinal Study of Erosion of Empathy in Medical School“. First of all, what is empathy? “To clarify the conceptual ambiguity associated with empathy, based on an extensive review of relevant literature, we defined empathy in the context of medical education and patient care as a predominantly cognitive (as opposed to affective or emotional) attribute that involves an understanding) of patients’ experiences, concerns, and perspectives combined with a capacity to communicate this understanding. An intention to help by preventing and alleviating pain and suffering is an additional feature of empathy in the context of patient care”. In this definition of empathy, sympathy is conflicting since the former is a very evolved understanding of human nature, the latter is a more primitive and limbic source feeling. Therefore, in the study, authors state that sympathy brings to unproductivity whereas empathy refers to a competence which has some technical features to be learnt since related to cognitive process of brain.
Read also…
- Neuron mirror neuron mirror of we all, are you the way to empower our soul? – Gaia Vitali, Andrea Bortolotti, Nicoletta Giovine and Alessandra La Forgia. Students of “Scientists in the company” ISTUD
- The Devil is in the Third Year: A Longitudinal Study of Erosion of Empathy in Medical School
– Mohammadreza Hojat, PhD, Michael J. Vergare, MD, Kaye Maxwell, George Brainard, PhD, Steven K. Herrine, MD, Gerald A. Isenberg, MD, Jon Veloski, MS, and Joseph S. Gonnella, MD
