Limitless empathy in a doctor patient relationship?

We often read articles or posts where doctors talk about empathy for their patients and how they want to deliver compassionate care for them. These two terms ‘empathy’ and ‘compassion’ are used interchangeably and casually mentioned by doctors and the patients. Have we wondered how these terms have come into in the healthcare picture? What are the boundaries in this aspect of the doctor-patient relationship?

Digging to the root of this element –

What is compassion?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines compassion as “a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them.”

What is empathy?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines empathy as “the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation.”

Compassion and empathy, both hold their significant positions in patient care but what are the patients expecting from their doctor? Is there a gap between what they need and what is shared with them as a part of their treatment?

Patient’s dialogue –

Most often, a patient steps into the clinic complaining about a physical or mental ailment. The initial doctor-patient interaction is focused on detailed history taking. Many a time, the doctor has to hear the patient narrating stories and anecdotes which might not be relevant to his present health issues. At face value, the patient is expecting a diagnosis and treatment, but they are humans, too. Each of them subconsciously expects empathy for their suffering. A doctor’s genuine listening to the patient’s complaints gives them the initial experience of empathy to them. After the diagnosis and medicine prescription, the interaction is ideally completed but there lies an expectation of reassurance. The patient wants to hear words of comfort or assurance that he is going to heal out of the disease. There is probably no guarantee in medicine for patient’s recovery because we can never know the future. Despite knowing this reality, a patient still expects empathy and reassurance from the doctor. Words coming out of compassion may help some patients who want sympathy for their hardships; but actions or words coming out of empathetic listening are what have a profound and lasting impact.

Doctor’s being –

We have clinical trials that have proved the gains of placebo effect in patient management. It is possible that placebo and empathy get confused by the doctor sometimes. Genuine empathy is experienced by the patient when the doctor’s listening has depth and understanding to it. It takes time and deliberate presence of mind for such listening. Doctors are aware and have seen the wonders of expedited recovery with empathy as an ingredient to their medical conduct towards the sickness. Hence, they are aligned with its role in the recovery.

Keeping in mind India’s burdened doctor-patient ratio, doctors have no restriction on the number of patients they treat in a day. Is it possible for the doctor to have limitless empathy? Is it possible for the over worked doctor to have the headspace for such equality in the healthcare delivery? Does that mean the patients should refine their expectations or does that mean doctors should upgrade their listening potential for all?

To summarize-

The patient is not even aware that he wants empathy or words of reassurance from his clinician. They need it subconsciously while the medical education teaches the doctor the importance of empathy with patient interactions. If the doctor is the one who is aware of his part then the responsibility also lies within him to create this experience for the one he is treating.

When a doctor holds acknowledgement of what a significant role he plays in the reversal of disease to well being for every human that he comes across, he can create the mirage of limitless empathy in him to power through such a massive patient load. There is no way to analyze if the doctor can do this day in and out for every patient or not but the acceptance of his part in the other’s healing could definitely help him serve to the best of his abilities. The self belief to make this happen for every patient is the gateway to the journey of making it close to possible.

There could be a variety of possibilities on this segment of healthcare delivery. What do you think could be possible? Is there a way for empathy with boundaries or we could be serving limitless empathy?

Do let us know in the comments how this topic has whirled up your thoughts!

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