I am reading a book from the Gerald Tucker library at National Jewish, and this book has been really eye-opening. I am reading a chapter a day, and today's chapter (Chapter 9: The Empathic Physician) talked about how empathy is no longer taught in medical schools or practiced in medicine. I can see this rampant in today's medical practices, and it saddens me to know that doctors are no longer taught to take care of the whole patient. Often, they relegate the duties of caring for the patient's emotional needs to the nurse, but they never actually think about giving empathy to their patients themselves. As a patient, there have been times that what I needed most from my physician was a sense of understanding, a sense of empathy, and I couldn't get that. When they turned their backs on that need, it only served to make me angry and spiteful at the doctor.
My anger was, perhaps, a little misdirected. I didn't understand the position that physicians and other healthcare workers are put into by major corporations and large hospitals until recently. One of the volunteer positions I'm being offered requires me to help patients go from one area of the hospital to another area in time for their appointments. While this is fine and good and I would love to do it, personal relationships and getting to know the patient is discouraged, and it made me wonder if the physicians and nurses are held to that same standard, both at National Jewish and elsewhere. The thing that must be understood is that it is not possible to give high quality, individualized care to patients without somewhat hearing their stories (history) and being exposed to who they are and to their beliefs, culture, values and emotions at least a little bit. When we try to isolate ourselves from the patient by distancing ourselves from the patient as a person, care becomes mechanical and impersonal. The person becomes one more body to throw drugs into, one more story to be lost among the crowd, and when they die, one more body in the morgue. They aren't viewed as people who changed others' lives, who influenced others to be better people. They aren't someone who brought smiles to dying peoples' faces, who brought laughter to children who would be otherwise hurting and sad. They had a physical presence on this earth, but nothing more. That is how patients are being portrayed among physicians.
I am confident that there are patients that can teach physicians huge lessons about life and their profession, they just need to keep their eyes and hearts open to the change that will take place. Caring for someone, whether medically or physically, is a personal deed. Getting to know that person, their fears, dreams, desires and way of life may improve care significantly; only if the "big guns" would see and acknowledge it. Healthcare workers have the power to change someone's world and the community they serve only if they are allowed to do so. People are not machines, we have emotional needs as well as physical needs and those emotional needs have to be met as well. As a healthcare worker, you take care of the patient holistically, which means the psychological aspect of it shouldn't be tossed along the wayside.
Psychology and medicine are inextricably linked, as can be seen by the disorders that are caused by psychological issues (ie psychosomatic illnesses). When one has a psychological disorder, it can affect the person physically as well, as can be demonstrated through the presence of bodily aches and fatigue related to depression. On top of it, psychology is taking on the appearance of medicine more and more every day. So why are we tossing psychology by the wayside in the care of patients? I can only suggest that physicians assume that others will bear this role, such as family and friends. This may be true in many cases, but what about the times where the patient doesn't have family or friends to take on this role, or where these people have no clue where to start in this role? This might be where the healthcare worker steps in, however, it can't be done when they are constrained by the big wigs to not get personal with their patients. This needs to change, and it will change when we have empathic doctors and nurses in the power of authority. Until then, people who do not understand the benefit of close physician/nurse-patient relationships will be dictating to us how healthcare workers are to give their care and will remain out of touch with what is needed and best for the patient.
The book I'm reading also says that there are a lot of people working in the sciences, while behavioral sciences are often understaffed. This is inexcusable. I believe that this is communicating the belief that people do not have an emotional, inner aspect to them or, if acknowledged, this inner person has little to no value in medicine. This is preposterous, as even science has proven that attitude and other psychological can affect the chances of becoming ill and recovery from those illnesses. If the inner person has no value, why are many hospitals changing to cater to the patient's desires and needs? Why are they spending so much on making the patient happy? It is because of this power that psychology can have on healing. We place so much emphasis on patient satisfaction, but we forget a part of making the patient satisfied is listening to them and showing empathy to them. With what restrictions are in place currently, there is no way that empathy can be openly practiced, it is something that is what I would term "black market medical practice," where when it is given, it is done under the radar of those higher up. Yet, this empathy improves the relationship that the physician has with the patient and therefore the care.
The inner person shouldn't be tossed at the wayside, which is why it's important for empathy to be encouraged to among medical students. Often, as the book states, this is done with clinical exposure early in the education of new doctors. It is said that some of the most empathic doctors come from Isreal, and why is this? It is because medical schools in Israel, rather than discouraging a relationship between the physician and the patient as well as the demonstration of empathy from the physician, they encourage these things in their students. When empathy and a relationship are encouraged rather than discouraged, medicine becomes more individualized than the one-size-fits-all kind of care that is too often practiced and encouraged in medical schools and hospitals around the world.
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