Lead Author: Knut Ørnes Brodahl
Submitted by: Marsha Harman, Rush Center for Clinical Skills and Simulation

There are few in-depth studies investigating medical students’ own experiences when trying to empathize in concrete clinical encounters. This study explores medical students’ perceptions, experiences, and reflections when empathizing with patients expressing emotional issues. After conducting an interview with a Standardized Patient, participants were asked to reflect on their internal experiences during the encounters. Five themes which may influence student empathy during history-taking were identified through analysis of interview data: (1) Giving priority to medical history taking, (2) Interpreting the patient’s worry as lack of medical information, (3) Conflict between perspectives, (4) Technical communication skill rather than authentic and heart-felt and (5) The distant professional role. 

As an SP educator, I tend to focus on how student behavior affects SPs emotionally and try to help SPs articulate their experiences in ways that are useful to the learners. This article gave an interesting perspective on the obstacles students may face in expressing empathy or supporting patient emotions when conducting interviews. I suspect that understanding the student perspective will allow SPs to provide richer, more relevant feedback. 

Read the full article in BMC Medical Education here.  

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