Physician Health and Well-Being: Compassion is Good Medicine
By John A. Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP, ABIHM
Founding co-chair LMS Physician Wellness Program (2016)
Though compassion exists inside every one of us by virtue of our human birth, we could all do a better job of feeling and expressing that innate inner resource for ourselves, other people, animals and planet Earth. Health professionals need a healthy balance of the compassion patients need and expect and the self-compassion that protects us from burnout and provides the foundation for our compassion for others.
Compassion is present among the religious and the spiritual as well as the agnostic, the atheist – and even among serial killers. Convicted murderer and FBI most wanted, Whitey Bulger, regularly fed a homeless cat he named Tiger and serial killer Ted Bundy exchanged marriage vows and conceived a child while awaiting execution.
Growing up Methodist, I well knew the Golden Rule as ‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you’ and also
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18)
As our world becomes more complicated, it is hopeful and helpful to see health professional training embracing compassion as an increasingly validated component of compassion as good medicine.
Here are expressions of compassion from several religions which demonstrate compassion as part of religious ethic around the world.
Confucianism
” Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”
Daoism
“Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.”
Buddhism
“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself’
Hinduism
“One should not behave toward others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself.”
Baha’i
“Choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”
Judaism
‘That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it.’
Islam
“The Prophet Muhammad said, ‘None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.’”
Christianity
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12, NIV)
Resources
*Wang, C. X. Y., Pavlova, A., Boggiss, A. L., O’Callaghan, A., & Consedine, N. S. (2023). Predictors of Medical Students’ Compassion and Related Constructs: A Systematic Review. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 35(5), 502–513.
*British Med J, Development and validation of a patient-reported measure of compassion in healthcare: the Sinclair Compassion Questionnaire (SCQ)
*Pavlova A, Wang CXY, Boggiss AL, O’Callaghan A, Consedine NS. Predictors of Physician Compassion, Empathy, and Related Constructs: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2022
*Baguley SI, Pavlova A, Consedine NS. More than a feeling? What does compassion in healthcare ‘look like’ to patients? Health Expect. 2022 Aug;25(4):1691-1702.
*Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by renowned theologian Karen Armstrong, Knopf 2010
About the Author
Dr Patterson spent 30 years in solo family medicine in Estill County/Irvine, Kentucky, where his staff included a mental health counselor and dietitian. He majored in psychology at Vanderbilt and has viewed his entire medical career through that mind body lens, including residencies in family medicine and preventive medicine and a master’s degree in public health. He is certified in family medicine, integrative holistic medicine, mind body medicine, mindfulness-based stress reduction and yoga therapy. He is past president of the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians and is on the faculty of U of Rochester Mindful Practice in Medicine and the Center for Mind Body Medicine (Washington, DC). He operates the Mind Body Studio on Southland Drive in Lexington, where he offers individual consultations and group classes for persons with stress-related chronic conditions and burnout prevention for health professionals, teachers, businesses, faith communities and non-profits, emphasizing a mindfulness-based approach to promoting resilience, managing stress, preventing burnout and cultivating compassion. Those with financial hardship simply pay as they are able. He can be reached through his website at www.mindbodystudio.org
