Through my findings there have been several challenges outlined with implementing medical empathy and creating a culture of empathy. Many would say that empathy decreases throughout medical training. The negative perceptions of empathy have been highlighted by Hardy (2017). Some may argue that the, "empathy is dangerous for the physician’s mental health" (p. 240). There has also been,"qualitative research [that] indicates that medical education at least sometimes allows or even encourages physicians to be unaware of their own and the patient’s interpretations and experiences, for example, when ‘patient cases’ are constructed and discussed. Thus, physicians may not pay adequate attention to how their education and frame of references may influence their perception and judgement" (Pederson, 2010, p. 593).

 

Despite this, "the connections made through empathy do bring the risk of emotional attachment, empathy also allows physicians to value" (Hardy, 2017, p. 240). Furthermore, "the surface manifestations of behavioral empathy should be assessed because the communicative skills defining behavioral empathy are essential skills for the compassionate and effective care of patients. A student who is unable to display these basic behaviors is likely to be deficient in the other, deeper, components of empathy as well. (Steele & Hulsman, 2008, p. 143).