ArticleMedicine, health care, and philosophy2017
Empathizing with patients: the role of interaction and narratives in providing better patient care.
Article in Medicine, health care, and philosophy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of empathy training in health care: a meta-analysis of training content and methods.International journal of medical education · 2022Pooled it
- Can virtual reality technology be used for empathy education in medical students: a randomized case-control study.BMC medical education · 2024Trial
- Patient's perceived empathy can predict doctor-patient relationship in medical interaction.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Head and neck cancer treatment outcome priorities: A multi-perspective concept mapping study.PloS one · 2023Article
- Implications for paediatric training and workforce from pandemic disruptions: A view from a tertiary hospital.Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2022Article
- What Affects an Orthopaedic Surgeon's Online Rating? A Large-Scale, Retrospective Analysis.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2022Article
- Does the hospitalization immersion experience improve medical students' understanding of patients' perspectives? A qualitative study.Korean journal of medical education · 2021Article
- Exploring relational and moral features in medical students.International journal of medical education · 2021Article
- Under what circumstances can immigrant patients and healthcare professionals co-produce health? - an interpretive scoping review.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2020Article
- Effect of a Single-Session Communication Skills Training on Empathy in Medical Students.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2020Article
- Humor and sympathy in medical practice.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2020Article
- Clinical sympathy: the important role of affectivity in clinical practice.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2019Article
- Perils of the Hidden Curriculum: Emotional Labor and "Bad" Pediatric Proxies.The Journal of clinical ethics · 2019Article
- Enhancing second-order empathy in medical practice by supplementing patients' narratives with certainties.BMC medical education · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recent studies have revealed a drop in the ability of physicians to empathize with their patients. It is argued that empathy training needs to be provided to both medical students and physicians in order to improve patient care. While it may be true that empathy would lead to better patient care, it is important that the right theory of empathy is being encouraged. This paper examines and critiques the prominent explanation of empathy being used in medicine. Focusing on the component of empathy that allows us to understand others, it is argued that this understanding is accomplished through a simulation. However, simulation theory is not the best explanation of empathy for medicine, since it involves a limited perspective in which to understand the patient. In response to the limitations and objections to simulation theory, interaction theory is presented as a promising alternative. This theory explains the physicians understanding of patients from diverse backgrounds as an ability to learn and apply narratives. By explaining how we understand others, without limiting our ability to understand various others, interaction theory is more likely than simulation theory to provide better patient care, and therefore is a better theory of empathy for the medical field.
Indexed as
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27796726What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.