Towards Patient Safety: Promoting Clinical Empathy Through an Experiential Curriculum in Care Transitions Among the Underserved

Abstract

Improving outcomes for patients undergoing transitions of care has become an international priority. A key ingredient of effective care transitions is compassionate care provided by healthcare providers with a good understanding of patients’ post-discharge needs. Enhancing empathy in future physicians is a critical task of medical education best promoted by experiential methods of training that allow for student interaction with patients across care settings. Our curriculum aimed at promoting understanding of the risks associated with care transitions, clinical empathy, and positive attitudes towards patient safety in transitions. The curriculum was delivered to 140 fourth year medical students during their required 4-week inpatient medicine clerkship, using a multimodal approach that combined didactic, experiential, and web-based study. This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of students’ responses to their experiences while monitoring the transition of their patients across care settings. Findings reflect development of empathetic insight among students, as well as increased ability to identify and address post-discharge needs of at-risk patients. Of the 140 students who participated in the curriculum, 64 students identified three potential areas of lapses during the transition of their patients from the inpatient to the outpatient setting within the following categories: (1) system-related issues, (2) provider-related issues, (3) patient-related issues. Curricular methods that provide direct patient exposure along with reflection will be helpful in promoting empathy and positive attitudes towards best practices in care transitions.