Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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The "hidden curriculum" in medical school includes a stressful work environment, un-empathic role models, and prioritisation of biomedical knowledge. It can provoke anxiety and cause medical students to adapt by becoming cynical, distanced and less empathic. Lower empathy, in turn, has been shown to harm patients as well as practitioners. ⋯ These include early exposure to real patients, providing students with real-world experiences, training role models, assessing empathy training, increasing the focus on the biopsychosocial model of disease, and enhanced wellbeing education. Here, we provide an overview of these interventions. Taken together, they can bring about an "empathic hidden curriculum" which can reverse the decline in medical student empathy.
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The shift toward virtual academic detailing (AD) was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ AD groups across North America have shifted to virtual outreach and delivery strategies. This trend toward virtual AD may aid outreach to vulnerable rural communities, improving health equity. More research is needed on the effectiveness of virtual AD and its future implications.
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Masks have been widely used as a preventative tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the use of masks by children has been controversial, with international guidelines recommending a risk-based approach to national policymakers. ⋯ Children's experiences of mask-wearing were varied and context-dependent, with several mask-design challenges raised. Future policy on mask-wearing needs to consider the context in which mask-wearing would be most beneficial, and how local adaptations to policy can respond to children's needs.
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Review
Beyond empathy training for practitioners: Cultivating empathic healthcare systems and leadership.
Empathic care benefits patients and practitioners, and empathy training for practitioners can enhance empathy. However, practitioners do not operate in a vacuum. For empathy to thrive, healthcare consultations must be situated in a nurturing milieu, guided by empathic, compassionate leaders. ⋯ Efforts to enhance empathy must therefore go beyond training practitioners to address system-level factors that foster empathy. These include patient education, cultivating empathic leadership, customer service training for reception staff, valuing cleaning and all ancillary staff, creating healing spaces, and using appropriate, efficiency saving technology to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare practitioners. We divide these elements into environmental factors, organisational factors, job factors, and individual characteristics.