Empathy
Why is empathy an important skill for healthcare professionals?
- Building trust
- Empathy helps to foster a good doctor-patient relationship that will allow patients to open up and better feel empowered in making decisions about their own health. An unempathetic doctor could have a lasting effect on the way the patient sees all healthcare professionals, which can be passed down amongst communities, especially minorities that are already affected by worse health outcomes.
- Enhances teamwork
- Empathy can also be shown between healthcare professionals. As the profession can be very taxing, supporting members of the multidisciplinary team can ultimately improve wellbeing and patient care. This is also important in the face of criticism; delivering or receiving feedback can be a stressful experience that can lead to breakdown in trust if not handled properly.
- Reduces mistakes
- Healthcare professionals may fall in the trap of sticking too much to a ‘script’ in the favour of efficiency, which leaves little leeway for showing interest in a patient’s personal life and demonstrating empathy. Being empathetic towards a patient means they will be more comfortable sharing personal details with you, which can be the key to resolving the problems they are facing.
What are some ways in which you can show empathy?
- Comforting a friend / relative
- Unlike the below, this is an example that should be applicable to most people. You can discuss the situation while leaving out any sensitive details and then go into what you did to support your friend/relative. Do not underestimate the importance of reflection; comforting someone can initially be an awkward experience for some, but learning how to overcome this is a valuable lesson.
- Care home/hospital settings
- If in your work experience / volunteering you have had the experience of speaking to families or patients that have received bad news, this is a very relevant clinical example you can bring into your interview response. This also can tie well into how you might carry this into medical school; was there anything you wish you could have done, or wished you had more knowledge to effectively support someone? You can discuss how this motivated your passion for medicine.
- Be careful in respecting the limitations of your role as even as a medical student you should not provide false reassurance (“I’m sure everything will be fine” etc.) or medical advice without consulting with the doctor.
- Part-time jobs
- If you have a customer-facing role and have had to deal with an angry or upset customer, you can discuss this here. The best answers might discuss how you had to balance being professional with listening to the customer’s concerns.
If the question allows, you can discuss when you have seen empathy, for example if you had the opportunity to shadow doctors.
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