Tag: patient-physician relationship

Wendy A. Horwitz, PhD Wendy A. Horwitz, PhD (1 Posts)

Guest Author

Penn State Abington

Wendy Horwitz’s essays, editorials, and reviews have been published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Afterimage, Neurology (Humanities Section), Jewish Literary Journal, Intrepid Times, and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. Trained as a pediatric psychologist, she writes and teaches health humanities in the Philadelphia area.




White Coat, Black Book

Published by Wendy A. Horwitz, PhD

At the start of medical school, many students participate in the “White Coat Ceremony.” Before peers, faculty, and family, they recite a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath (or other affirmations like the Geneva Declaration) and don the short white jacket they’ll wear during the four years of school. Although they begin seeing patients only in the third year, part of the ceremony’s intention is to convey that care for patients begins, in a sense, on this first day. When they earn their M.D., they are entitled to the knee-length version.

Can Empathy Be Taught, or Is It Innate?

Published by Okechukwu Anochie, MD, MS

In medical school, I was taught to sit at eye level when speaking to patients, ask how they would prefer to be addressed, and ask open-ended questions to allow them to express themselves. I learned to interject with “That must be really difficult for you,” or “I can only imagine how that makes you feel,” as a way to show empathy and foster better connection with patients.

Okechukwu Anochie, MD, MS (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

RWJ-Barnabas Health

I'm a PGY-3 internal medicine resident at RWJ-Barnabas Health who is passionate about healthcare disparities and healthcare policy. One of my goals in life is to work at the federal level to influence healthcare policy laws that will ensure those who desperately need adequate healthcare are not lost through the cracks in our healthcare system. My hobbies include natural bodybuilding, learning programming languages, traveling and experience new cultures.