Physician empathy according to physicians: A multi-specialty qualitative analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient-Physician Communication
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Clinical empathy is crucial for effective patient care and satisfaction.
• Existing definitions often focus on affective and cognitive aspects.
• Understanding physicians' diverse perspectives is essential for targeted training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how physicians across various specialties characterize clinical empathy.
• To identify the range of behaviors and concepts physicians associate with empathy.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 94 physicians from neurology, family medicine, internal medicine, and emergency medicine.
• Physicians described up to 10 examples of empathic physician behavior.
• Template analysis was used to categorize descriptions.

Main Results:

• Physicians' descriptions of empathy formed three main themes: Clinical Performance and Professionalism, Interpersonal Communication, and Clinician Orientation.
• Subthemes included competency, accessibility, time management, information sharing, communication styles, sensitivity, self-disclosure, and attention to emotion.
• Significant variation existed in the themes mentioned by individual physicians.

Conclusions:

• Physicians possess diverse understandings of clinical empathy, extending beyond traditional definitions.
• Empathy perception includes structural elements like team-based care and accessibility.
• Communication behaviors are key, but some physician-described empathic actions may not be apparent to patients.