DOCTORS INFREQUENTLY EXPRESS EMPATHY
Bedside manner is important to patients. You want your doctor to care about you and your medical needs and to understand how you feel, especially in the event that you have a potentially fatal disease. On prime-time medical television shows, such as, Grey's Anatomy and ER, the doctors are often deeply affected by the diagnoses they are making and they "put themselves in the shoes" of their patients. In reality, there is only a 10 percent chance that a patient with a deadly disease will get an empathetic response from a doctor.
In a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine named, "Missed Opportunities for Interval Empathy in Lung Cancer Communication" by Dr. Diane S. Morse and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center, the researchers analyzed twenty recorded and transcribed consultations between lung cancer patients and nine physicians. Of the 384 opportunities to provide empathy, physicians responded with empathy 10 percent of the time.
