The Literature for Care Approach: How to Enhance Empathy Medical Students

They teach you many things in medical school. All those classes and lab sessions, all that knowledge in basic sciences, and all that clinical experience will greatly impact the way you do your job in the future. But professors rarely mention another critical attribute in healthcare: empathy. It’s because empathy is hard to teach.

Most people assume that it’s something you have or don't have. It’s true that some people are naturally less or more empathetic than others. However, empathy is a skill that can be cultivated. Literature, both nonfiction and fiction, can help you step outside of yourself and understand other people’s emotions better.

Nonfiction Literature that Enhances Empathy in Medical Students

Medical Research Papers

Surprisingly, you can start with the studies and research papers you’ve already been reading throughout college. At first sight, medical research papers seem “dry” and impersonal. But when you learn to dig deeper, you will realize that real people stand behind those numbers, percentages, and documented cases.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

This is a classic read for everyone who appreciates literature in any form. It’s classified in the “stream of consciousness” genre, and it’s exactly why it’s a great choice for those who want to work on their empathy skills. When you read it, you feel like you’re getting into the author’s head. You understand how they feel, what they think, and why they act the way they do. This book makes you realize that there’s a storm of emotions behind someone’s peaceful or angry appearance. That’s an important viewpoint for medical practitioners.

Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It by Roman Krznaric

This is not one of those useless how-to guides that you read and do nothing about. The book’s author has devoted his career to the matter of empathy. This book teaches you how we’re naturally wired for social connection. Empathy is an innate skill that everyone has. We only need to nurture specific habits that enhance it:

• Challenge prejudices

• Be curious about strangers

• Listen and open up

• Try someone else’s life

• Develop an ambitious imagination

• Inspire social change

Fiction that Enhances Empathy

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

This is a mandatory book to read for anyone who wants to become a nurse practitioner. It’s a beautiful story told in a masterful way. But most of all, it’s about suffering, rescue, care, and humanism.

The House of God by Samuel Shem

This satirical novel focuses on a group of medical interns in the 1970s. They all strive to become good doctors. Practical skills are not the only thing that sets the great ones apart, though. The story shows that at some point in everyone's career, people skills matter more than education.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This book is inspired by the true story of a cancer patient, whose cells were taken and used in medical research without her knowledge. They were named HeLa cells and were used for developing the polio vaccine, cancer research, IVF studies, and cloning. The book is written without much drama, as it focuses on the ethics of scientific discovery. It tackles issues like racism, idealism, greed, faith, and faith in science. This is one of those books that will remind you why you started studying medicine in the first place: the ultimate goal is to help humanity.

Start Looking Beyond a Patient’s File

When you nurture empathy, you’ll look beyond someone’s symptoms and medical history. You will develop the skill of connecting with people and understanding the mind, body, and soul behind the symptoms they present.

Empathy has been associated with a lower likelihood of mistakes, higher patient satisfaction, and fewer cases of malpractice. When you develop a positive connection with a patient, you influence their emotional health. That’s crucial for the way they accept treatment and adhere to medical advice.

The good news is that we can all become more empathetic. Both nonfiction and fiction literature can help with that!

BIO: Jeremy Reynolds is an avid reader of medical research, news, and all things literature. He enjoys writing tips for students. He focuses on sharing insights on how to improve oneself, inside and out.