摘要：Throughout medical school, my instructors stressed the importance of empathy, generally defined as the understanding of and identification with another person’s emotional state. Sympathy and empathy, commonly confused with each other, are not the same. Sympathy is a statement of emotional concern while empathy is a reflection of emotional understanding. The applications of empathy are widespread [1, 2], and are especially relevant in fields such as medicine, where the successful treatment of patients depends on effective patient-physician interactions. This article explores the concept of empathy and examines its utility in medicine from the perspective of a medical student.
