After researching cognitive and affective empathy, I realized that I need to develop empathy that comprises both. There is a need to balance between getting emotionally involved with a patient and needing to maintain an emotional distance from them (Australian Medical Association, 2013). This is to avoid scenarios where emotions cloud the doctor’s judgment and to avoid scenarios where the doctor is too cold towards their patients. When doctors have a healthy mix of emotional involvement and objectivity, they can gain a better understanding and medical evidence of the patient’s condition. The patients would be more convinced that their doctors are clinically sound while also genuinely caring for them (Marcum, 2013).
After researching empathy, I then moved on to respect and sensitivity. Based on my general understanding of both values, I saw that they go hand in hand strongly. After all, a doctor who is respectful to a patient will also be sensitive to the patient’s needs. Through research, I’ve found that in medicine, there are a few ways a medical professional and a medical student can show respect and sensitivity to others.
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We can show respect by respecting the patient’s autonomy. Respect for autonomy has been defined as a need to respect the decisions made by adults with decision-making capacity (The Ethics Centre, 2017). One way to illustrate this principle is to look at a court case, Madrigal v. Quilligan. In Madrigal v. Quilligan, 10 Latina women sued a county hospital in Los Angeles County, California for making them undergo sterilization without obtaining their informed consent. On top of the forced sterilization, there were testimonies on how disrespectful and insensitive the medical personnel was. The case caused a public outcry and subsequent reformations to the reproductive rights of women (Matt, 2018). Additionally, when a doctor respects the patient’s autonomy, the doctor is also showing sensitivity to the patient’s decisions and the circumstances surrounding those decisions. This is important because when a doctor is respectful and sensitive, it promotes trust in the doctor–patient relationship and allows for both parties to work together better (Frosch & Ming, 2014).
We can also show respect by respecting the patient’s confidentiality. This is because a patient’s clinical information is highly sensitive and it is essential to ensure that there are no breaches of confidentiality. (Beltran-Aroca, et al., 2016). Furthermore, when we respect the patient’s confidentiality, we are being sensitive to the privacy needs of the patient. It is imperative to uphold this because the leakage of sensitive information can yield consequences for the patient. For example, leakage of a patient being HIV positive can affect the patient’s reputation, and future opportunities and cause ignominy (Beltran-Aroca, et al., 2016). This would make the patient less willing to share such sensitive information in future consultations which would affect the care received and their health (Bord, 2014). On a broader scale, respect for confidentiality is to ensure that society has faith in the healthcare system. If people knew that the medical profession upholds such respect and sensitivity in high regard, people would know that their rights to privacy are secured and would be more confident and trusting of those in the medical profession (Bord, 2014).
We can also be respectful and sensitive by being unconditional and non-judgemental to patients (Frosch & Ming, 2014). For example, one of our patients has a need to lose weight but still continues to pursue unhealthy eating habits. Instead of criticizing her and forcing her to follow our advice, we should first treat her with respect and sensitivity by finding out the underlying reason behind her unhealthy eating habits. By being sensitive to her circumstances, she might give a real reason as to why she can’t follow a weight loss plan well. Perhaps, the patient is suffering from depression and eats as a way to cope. Once we are aware of the underlying reason, we can then try to find other ways to help her lose weight. By not forcing a patient to conform to our own beliefs and instead, trying to understand why a patient might be behaving in a certain way, we can actually promote health.
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