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The Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program: Application of Buddhist Ethics to Teach Student Physicians Empathy, Compassion,
Scott Santibañez1, Debra Boudreaux2, Guo-Fang Tseng3
1Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. ssantb@emory.edu.
Abstract:
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Silent Mentor Program promotes the donation of one's body to science as a selfless act by appealing to the Buddhist ethics of compassion and self-sacrifice. Together, faculty, families, and donors help medical students to learn the technical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological aspects of medicine. Students assigned to each "Silent Mentor" visit the family to learn about the donor's life. They see photos and hear family members' stories. Afterwards, students write a brief biography of the donor which is posted on the program website, in the medical school, and on the dissection table. In this paper, we: (1) summarize the Silent Mentor Program; (2) describe findings from an assessment of medical students who recently completed a new version of the program in Malaysia; and (3) explore how healthcare settings could benefit from this innovative program.
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