We’ve been told it’s important to empathize with our patients, but we’ve also heard it’s important to keep professional distance. Can we reconcile these two concepts?
Join the #MedHumChat community as we discuss Calibrating Empathy. We will focus on two pieces: Jamil Zaki’s The War for Kindness and That Dragon, Cancer by Numinous Games.
Selected Excerpt from The War for Kindness
“Paul Ekman spent his career mapping characteristics of anger, fear, surprise, and other emotions. His work made him a giant in psychology and also spilled into pop culture — the film Inside Out and the television show Lie to Me are both based on his ideas. Paul’s work also meant that his daughter Eve grew up in a household that was highly aware of feelings. At the ER, she noticed differences in how her colleagues empathized. Some overdosed on it, growing cynical and exhausted. Others were nearly unflappable. “They had found this kind of balance between detachment and distress.” Eve wondered: Can the rest of us become more like them?”
Learn more about The War for Kindness
