Trainee doctors could do much to develop their essential empathic skills by taking a module?on Shakespeare.

That is the argument of??who has a position in the University of Edinburgh¡¯s department of palliative medicine, published in the?Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine on 2 April .

¡°Doctors sometimes distance themselves from patients,¡± he writes, ¡°avoiding emotions by focusing on biomedical facts¡± ¨C an approach described as ¡°detached concern¡±. The ¡°personal protection, social distancing and video consultations¡±?that have been essential during the pandemic have only made empathic contact even more difficult.

Shakespeare himself, Dr Jeffrey¡¯s article goes on, ¡°was familiar with the plague, spending time in ¡®lockdown¡¯, when the theatres were closed¡±. He was born?before the emergence of?today¡¯s strongly biomedical mindset, which is ¡°thought to be one factor in distancing doctors from patients¡±. Instead, his plays adopt an ¡°other-orientated perspective, imagining undergoing the other¡¯s experience. ¡®I have suffer¡¯d with those that I saw suffer¡¯,¡± as Miranda puts it in?The Tempest.

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It is precisely such an ¡°other-orientated perspective [that] prevents the doctor from losing sight of the patient as another person¡±, the article points out. Equally crucial in medical practice is the ¡°¡®narrative competency¡¯ allow[ing doctors] to interact with the patient in a joint process of making sense of their stories of suffering¡±.

The medical humanities?have now established themselves as a legitimate discipline. Drama, and even painting and music, are sometimes introduced on the margins of medical degrees. Yet Dr Jeffrey¡¯s paper suggests that a ¡°special study module¡± on Shakespeare would be particularly effective in ¡°encourag[ing] students and doctors to engage a psychosocial perspective when thinking about the patient¡¯s story¡±. It would also provide ¡°a supportive environment¡± for them to ¡°rehearse their natural spontaneous empathy, developing their imagination, curiosity and self-reflection¡±.

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The impact on doctors-to-be could be crucial in addressing ¡°the current imbalance between biomedical and psycho-social care¡±.

matthew.reisz@timeshighereducation.com