555 - Humanism and Empathy Education in the Pediatrics Medical Student Clerkship

Poster Number: 555
Publication Number: 555.115

Ami Doshi, UCSD/Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, United States; Daniel Lesser, UCSD, SAN DIEGO, CA, United States; Kay Rhee, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, United States; Shannon O'Donnell, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Midlothian, VA, United States; Christopher Cannavino, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, United States

Background: Empathy and compassion are essential to the doctor-patient relationship, and have been tied to patient satisfaction and physician well-being. Medical student (MS) empathy and compassion may decrease over their training. 

Objective: Create an educational session to provide 3rd year MS an opportunity to focus on empathy and compassion and to increase awareness of its value in patient care.

Design/Methods: A novel session, “HEAL (Humanism, Empathy, Active Listening): Through the Eyes of the Patients & Families”, was conducted each block of the inpatient rotation of the 3rd year core Pediatrics Clerkship. Two attending physicians facilitated a family interview via video conferencing software with 8-10 MS, followed by debriefing of the interview. Selected patients represented different points in the illness trajectory and discussed challenges faced, maintaining resilience, uncertainty and anticipatory grief, decision-making, and what families want physicians to know. After the interview, facilitators conducted a debrief with MS addressing elements of the journey that stood out, were inspiring, or hard to hear, identifying our reactions to patients’ experiences, building resilience, and compassionate communication.
            During the pilot phase, focus groups were conducted. Students completed free-response written evaluations and rated satisfaction using a five-point Likert scale. Qualitative methods were used for analysis. Following each session, evaluations were also collected for the HEAL session.

Results: Eighty-seven percent of the MS who completed the online evaluation (n = 116) were somewhat or very satisfied with the session. Four focus group discussions (41 students) and 36 free-response comments were reviewed. The majority of MS thought this session was valuable (Table 1). Many MS commented that the session helped them realize the importance of developing a relationship with their patients/families and understanding family perspectives. Several commented on the importance of empathy in the medical encounter. MS also recognized the importance of considering the psycho-social aspects of medical care. The session was well-received even in virtual format.Conclusion(s): The HEAL session is valued by MS and promotes the importance of empathy and compassion in a career in medicine. Preceptors and family participants may also share in benefits of the session. We speculate longitudinal, complementary sessions of this nature occurring throughout training and beyond can contribute to efforts to decrease burnout and improve quality of care. 
Medical Student Perspectives of the HEAL SessionRepresentative comments from session evaluations and focus groups