Summary: Indoctrinating The Jasons Of Medicine

Good afternoon, everyone. My presentation is entitled “Indoctrinating the Jasons of Medicine,” which means I will focus on the desensitization of the medical field.

My synopsis of W;t by Margaret Edson focuses on addressing the research-oriented mindset of the medical staff Vivian encounters during her hospital stay. When considering W;t as an honest reflection of medical treatment, Vivian is reduced to the common patient entirely dependent on medical staff, Jason is a knowledgeable doctor until his social skills are considered, and Susie embodies the goals of empathy training.

The research question I derived from this work was, “What problems does the desensitization of medical staff to their patients present to patient treatment, and what

In the article, “Should We Train Doctors for Empathy” by Jill Suttie, Suttie recalls her apathetic diagnosis of hip surgery, leading her to choose a different orthopedist. However, empathy is not just a marketable attribute for patient appeal; empathy is also a treatment separate from medications. The article “Empathy: Lost or Found in Medical Education?” by Sonal Singh provides an anecdote on how an elderly patient only recovered from her isolated hospitalization anxiety when Singh comforted her regularly. In addition to their uncaring attitude, medical staff also disregard patient wishes. As quoted in the article “When Doctors Ignore 'Do Not Resuscitate' Orders” by Daniel Summers, which is of particular relevance to Jason, over 88 percent of doctors reported choosing a DNR advance directive. Yet Summers, a medical employee himself, explains that despite this shared desire with patients, most doctors still attempt to prolong

To clarify the goals of empathy training, as quoted in Singh, empathy involves cognition to understand and communicate that your patient’s mindset is distinct from your own, whereas sympathy lets your patient’s mindset influence you. One approach to developing empathy, as detailed in the article “Narrative Medicine: Every Patient Has a Story” by Kim Krisberg, aims to enhance students’ focus on patient stories. According to Krisberg, this is done by increasing humanities studies during medical school to enhance articulation to patients. A drawback is that humanities requirements are added to an already lengthy education and further postpone career initiation. And of course, as Edson demonstrated with Jason, literary studies could also enhance a research-oriented mindset rather than providing a more humanistic perspective.

Another approach would be Empathetics, which is detailed on their own webpage. Empathetics combines online learning of handling patients’ situations empathetically and as well as live training of teamwork (Empathetics). In comparison to narrative medicine, Empathetics provides more guidance to develop communication skills. Unlike narrative medicine’s individual focus, Empathetics also utilizes peer