Friday 24 March 2017

Empathy is a personal trait which is viewed as an essential component of patient-centred care across the health professions. The patient is a person with needs and wants and emotions. They wish to be treated with respect and understanding, and have clear communications with their health care provider.\ud\udThe literature on this topic it is often written from the perspective of walking in the patients shoes. Indeed some articles and books on the subject have been written as a result of a doctor, nurse or other health professional becoming a patient, and their narrative of the treatment and care they received. The book, A Taste of My Own Medicine, was written by Dr Edward Rosenbaum based on a diary he had kept as a patient with throat cancer, and later became a successful movie called The Doctor starring William Hurt.\ud\udUnderstanding the need for empathy from first-hand experience as a patient is certainly one way in which it can be learned. For undergraduate students the experiential opportunities are more related to viewing videos, discussing scenarios and attending clinical placements where they see the patient staff interactions and can reflect on the outcomes.\ud\udThis presentation will provide an overview of the way in which students are encouraged to reach in to the patient’s needs and feelings by walking in their shoes, in order to reach out to them with understanding and compassionate care