Changing Behavior and Promoting Clinical Empathy through a Patient Experience Curriculum

Purpose This study endeavored to explore how a curriculum that uses a patient experience simulation followed by reflection can lead to clinical empathy in learners and whether this experience leads to behavioral change. Further, the study aimed to contribute insight regarding how clinical empathy may best be taught to health professions students. Methods Senior medical students participated in an in-situ patient experience simulation in an academic emergency department. The simulation was followed by a written reflection and then a structured debrief with faculty conducted at the end of the students’ clerkship. A thematic analysis was performed on transcripts of the group debriefs. Results Learners described several behavioral changes they made after this intervention. First, learners discussed performing more small acts of kindness to improve patient care and humanize the patient experience. Second, learners discussed seeking to improve their communication through acknowledgement and validation of the patient experience. And third, learners described actions to keep patients informed through frequent check-ins and setting expectations on time. As such, learners’ behavioral changes align with the conceptualization of “clinical empathy” in which emotional attunement to the patient experience allows the clinician to validate patient feelings and act accordingly to enhance care. Conclusions This study explores the effects of a curricular tool to cultivate empathy in health profession students. This curriculum created an emotional and physical experience for learners, thereby creating a deeper understanding of clinical empathy than might occur in standard skills-based approach. These findings suggest that empathy is not simply transactional for health professions students, and that an understanding of the patient experience leads to actions that improve the patient experience and alleviate suffering.