{"id":13276,"date":"2025-04-03T16:11:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T21:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/for-your-health\/?p=13276"},"modified":"2025-04-03T16:11:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T21:11:20","slug":"empathy-and-well-being-courtesy-dr-andrew-mclean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/for-your-health\/2025\/04\/03\/empathy-and-well-being-courtesy-dr-andrew-mclean\/","title":{"rendered":"Empathy and well-being (courtesy Dr. Andrew McLean)"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Osler was a Canadian physician who is recognized as a giant of modern medicine. One of his contributions included an essay recited at a medical school commencement titled “Aequanimitas with other addresses to Medical Students, Nurses, and Practitioners of Medicine.” Within this treatise, Osler outlined the need for \u201cimperturbability\u201d and \u201cequanimity,\u201d essentially referring to being \u201ccool, calm, and collected,\u201d during all circumstances.<\/p>\n

However, Osler was not implying that we bracket empathy when we care for patients. Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

Shanafelt and colleagues<\/a> defined empathy as \u201cthe ability to listen to a patient, understand their perspective, sympathize with their experience, and express understanding, respect, and support.\u201d Given faculty concerns that as students reach their clinical years their empathy begins to wane, accreditation bodies and institutions of healthcare training have focused on helping graduates better engage with patients empathically. Other research suggests that empathy is also protective against \u201cothering,\u201d a bias that occurs in healthcare and society.<\/p>\n

To that end, Shanafelt’s study found that resident physicians with higher levels of well-being<\/em> tend to be more empathetic. In other words, each of us can be better, more empathetic healthcare providers if we have a better sense of personal well-being.<\/p>\n

So how can you maintain\/enhance your empathy?<\/p>\n