Compassion and Medicine
Compassion and Medicine Sara Hylwa-Deufel, MD As we all know, February is the month dedicated to love. And while we may not always feel love for our jobs, colleagues, patients, or even ourselves, offering compassion is a prerequisite for being a physician. Compassion entails recognizing the suffering of others and being motivated to help. Compassion has both feeling and acting components, distinguishing it from similar feelings like sympathy, empathy, and concern (1). While compassion is foundational for the physician, little research has been conducted on the subject. However, a recent study from 2022 attempted to address this gap by asking patients what actions physicians take to make them feel cared for. The study found 7 behavioral themes: listening and paying attention (far and beyond the most important behavior in this survey with a whopping 71% of responses), following-up and running tests (11%), continuity and holistic care (8%), respecting preferences (4%), genuine understa