Humility in medicine: what, why, and how

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professionalism
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Humility in physicians is often misconstrued as a lack of confidence or excellence.
• Despite misconceptions, humility is vital for physician self-awareness, continuous learning, and patient-centered care.
• It also fosters collegiality among medical professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the core constructs of humility (intellectual, cultural, relational) within clinical medicine.
• To discuss practical strategies for cultivating physician humility in medical training.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and conceptual analysis of humility in medical practice.
• Exploration of intellectual, cultural, and relational dimensions of humility.
• Discussion of pedagogical approaches for teaching humility.

Main Results:

• Humility enhances physician self-awareness and openness to learning.
• It is fundamental for patient-centered clinical encounters.
• Humility is a teachable professional competency, not just an aspirational trait.

Conclusions:

• Humility is an indispensable professional competency for physicians.
• Medical training programs must integrate explicit instruction and modeling of humility.
• Cultivating humility improves physician performance and patient care outcomes.