You searched for compassion - CLOSLER

September 29, 2021 | 2 min read

Finding Your Way to Compassion Satisfaction

By Wilson Hurley, LCSW

Practicing strategies that renew compassion will allow you to care for patients more effectively.

November 5, 2020 | 3 min read

Cultivating Compassion

By Aidan Crowley, Medical Student, University of Pennsylvania

Compassion—acting on the desire to relieve suffering—is central to giving clinically excellent care to those in need.

March 9, 2021 | 2 min read

Self-Compassion: A Resilience Strategy For Stressful Times

By Jennifer Hartmark-Hill, MD, University of Arizona

Cultivating self-compassion can combat stress and burnout, and improve your overall well-being.

January 19, 2021 | 2 min read

How to Mitigate Compassion Fatigue

By Dimitrios Tsatiris, MD, Cleveland, Ohio

Prioritizing self-care and making an effort to connect with others may prevent burnout and allow us to continue to give clinically excellent care to patients.

May 14, 2018 | 1 min read

Teamwork, Compassion, and Respect

By Derek Fine, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

A clinical mission statement from a nephrologist: values important to the best patient centered clinical care include teamwork, compassion, and respect.

April 9, 2018 | 3 min read

Healing Through Compassion and Empathy

By Kristen Nelson, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Read Dr. Nelson’s clinical mission statement, reminding us that “no matter what, you’re not just treating the patient, you’re treating the whole family.”

September 11, 2025 | 2 min read

Compassion at eye level

When communicating with patients, words, tone, and gestures matter. In addition, genuine presence provides comfort to patients who are suffering.

May 2, 2023 | 2 min read

Treating all patients with compassion (archives, 2023)

By Keisha Ray, PhD, McGovern Medical School

Physician bias is one driver of poor health outcomes among Black patients. A commitment to compassion and active listening can combat this trend.

October 22, 2025 | 3 min read

Coordination with compassion

To build an exceptional care team: foster psychological safety, model humility, and solicit input from every person. Daily rituals of respect can sustain excellent patient care.

October 7, 2025 | 2 min read

The compass of care

When the path is grey, reach out to your ethics committee for perspective. They help clarify options and provide guidance, which can improve communication with patients, families, and colleagues.

March 9, 2026 | 1 min read

“Pre-clinic meditation”: a poem

Full presence with patients allows us to more empathically interpret clinical data.

August 5, 2020 | 2 min read

Discomfort as Your Internal Compass

By Preetha Hebbar, MPH, medical student, Medical University of South Carolina

There are situations that can make us feel uncomfortable when caring for patients. Acknowledging these feelings may result in deeper and more meaningful relationships with patients.

June 5, 2023 | 1 min read

Saying No With Compassion And Curiosity

By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine

When patients request something that is unsafe, be curious and explore their perspective before declining. This approach is collaborative and less stressful for both clinician and patient.

May 8, 2018 | 3 min read

Compassion is Contagious

By Colleen Christmas, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Patients are observing us while we interact with others in the hospital, and this can have a tremendous impact on the trust they put in our care.

untitled, by David Kopacz

July 21, 2022 | 7 min read

Building Cultures of Caring

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

We must care for ourselves to care for others. One great place to start is practicing self-compassion.

August 20, 2024 | 2 min read

Wounded healer

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Clinician burnout can erode compassion, which is at the heart of healthcare. To reignite a passion for healing, clinicians must tend to their own souls in addition to mind and body.

June 17, 2025 | 3 min read

The consulting clinician’s dance

Being an excellent consulting physician, much like a choreographer, hinges on the harmonious coordination of collaboration and communication, all while prioritizing patient-centered care.

March 17, 2025 | 7 min read

Caring and uncaring in medicine and beyond

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Every moment in medicine, and in life, we have the choice to base our actions in caring.

February 6, 2023 | 1 min read

Finding Peace

By Sandra Burke, PhD, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Nurturing ourselves allows us to better heal our patients. Practicing mindful habits, like deep breathing, is one way we can engage in self-care.

March 2, 2026 | 2 min read

“The Walk for Peace”

Like the Buddhist monks, anchor your clinical practice in mindfulness and compassion. Disciplined attention to be fully present can allow for seeing the whole person before you.

January 26, 2026 | 2 min read

Navigating challenging encounters

When encounters feel stressful, double down on clear communication. After difficult patient interactions, debrief with colleagues to identify which communication strategies did and did not work.

Encourage parents to support their teens in connecting with friends in physically-distanced ways.

March 3, 2020 | 3 min read

The Power of the “Ordinary”

By Gaye Cunnane, MD, PhD, Trinity College Dublin

Excellent clinicians recognize that sometimes the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients comes in the most unexpected moments.

September 30, 2020 | 2 min read

Perspective-taking Through Poetry

By Howard Chang, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Creative writing may enhance our ability to recognize and understand conflicting perspectives in order to better empathize with our patients.

June 26, 2025 | 1 min read

Touching the wound with words and hands

Our words and actions, rooted in kindness, are powerful tools for healing. We can use them to mend what is broken in patients, colleagues, and ourselves.

June 24, 2025 | 4 min read

Unsheltered lives, unmet needs

When caring for patients who are unhoused, addressing food and housing insecurity is just as important as providing medical treatment. Prioritize building trust and ensuring psychological safety through trauma-informed interactions and a nonjudgmental approach.

January 3, 2019 | 1 min read

Post-Holiday Reflections

Throughout the entirety of the year, placing emphasis on humanity and connecting with patients is paramount.

October 29, 2018 | 2 min read

The Power of Laughter

By Carol Ann Huff, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Laughter is wonderful medicine and can almost always be heard emanating from my clinic!

April 11, 2018 | 3 min read

Five Tips to Support Your Grieving Patient

By Jane Schindler, LCSW-C ACHP-SW, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

A licensed clinical social worker offers her top tips for supporting grieving patients.

July 5, 2018 | 1 min read

Getting the Most Out of Your Eyes

By Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

If you look at your patients as you would a piece of art in a museum, you will notice many details that would otherwise be missed.

December 12, 2025 | 4 min read

Slow caring: becoming a gardener of the soul and a mechanic of the body

Balance fast medicine with slow medicine—use the right clinical tool while taking time to nurture the patient’s innate capacity to heal.

November 27, 2019 | 3 min read

Clouds and Codes Aren’t Care

By Gisele Waters, PhD, Founder and President of Symbiotica Consulting

The promise of artificial intelligence is that it gives healthcare professionals the opportunity to improve the quality of care by allowing humans to focus on humans.

“We often jump to reassure, fix, and plan. If we can be still for a moment, we can remain present and let compassion guide our actions.”

December 8, 2020 | 3 min read

The Messy

By Cassie Ferguson, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin

Caring for children in the pediatric ED is both rewarding and exhausting. Cultivating compassion for patients and ourselves can help to sustain our practice and our well-being.

April 28, 2021 | 4 min read

The Social Determinants of Clinician Health

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

When half of clinicians are burned out, we clearly need to fix our workplaces. In the meantime, we also need to care for ourselves, our patients, and each other.

The koru is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It's an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace. Photo by David Kopacz.

October 18, 2022 | 7 min read

A New Paradigm For Growth

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington, Lucinda Houghton, PhD

As with other traumas, burnout, viewed as an opportunity for personal and professional development, offers a way to expand ourselves as wholehearted healers.

Saint Brides Bay (Bae Sain Ffraid), Pembrokeshire, Wales, Author's Photo.

January 24, 2019 | 4 min read

Cultivating Caring

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Compassion begins with caring for ourselves and working to grow as full human beings. It is not just the lives of our patients that depend on us learning this component of caring, the quality of our own lives depend upon learning this as well.

January 11, 2021 | 2 min read

Meditation to Manage Stress

By Wilson Hurley, LCSW

Stress can cause us to be impatient with patients and colleagues. Noticing this and refocusing our attention toward the patient can help us continue to give excellent care.

"Helping Hands," by David Kopacz. Copyright with the artist.

November 3, 2020 | 4 min read

Beyond Resilience: Fighting the Causes of The Burnout Pandemic

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Clinician wellness should be a shared responsibility between individuals and institutions. Beyond facilitating clinician resilience, institutional transformation is needed.

August 21, 2025 | 2 min read

Academic medical departments can learn much from Department Q

Warning, if you begin the “Dept Q” series, you won’t be able to stop! By the time you finish reading these books, you’ll be a more compassionate person and a better healthcare professional.

June 30, 2022 | 2 min read

Life is Short

By Avani Prabhakar, MBBS, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Give yourself the same kindness and compassion that you give to others.

February 2, 2026 | 3 min read

Perfectly cracked

Let your “why” sustain compassion and presence. Bring your humanity to the bedside, acknowledge uncertainty, and stand with patients in their hardest moments.

August 27, 2024 | 6 min read

Wounded health systems

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

In my own journey as a physician, I’ve realized that healthcare's emphasis on efficiency, productivity, and the EMR can contribute to the wounding of healers. To counteract this, systems must prioritize compassion, foster a culture of caring, and make large-scale changes to create institutional and individual well-being.

April 15, 2024 | 1 min read

When the end is near

By Avani Prabhakar, MBBS, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Shubham Tomar, MBBS, MPH, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

At the end of life, loved ones often must make difficult decisions. Healthcare professionals can help ease this burden by showing empathy and compassion.

Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion, Honolulu Museum of Art. Photo by Margaret Chisolm, MD.

March 7, 2019 | 5 min read

On Looking: February Museum Visit

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The more lessons on clinical excellence we look for in art, the more we find.

"My patient dreamed of walking with me at the seashore and staying up late chatting. That dream was an escape, a mental vacation, and a balm for her wounds."

April 19, 2021 | 2 min read

Let Your Patient Dream

By Zeina Moukarzel, MD, MPH, Beirut, Lebanon

From my young patient about to have all of her limbs amputated, I learned about compassion and courage.

January 13, 2025 | 3 min read

Takeaways from “Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness and Humanity”

By Jonathan McFarland, Medical Humanist, Autonomous University of Madrid & University of Pompeu Fabra

Dr. Ronald Epstein's book advocates for a return to the core values of medicine: humanism, empathy, and the recognition that true healing emerges from a collaborative partnership between patient and clinician.

"Enlightenment," by David Kopacz, 2020.

December 28, 2020 | 6 min read

Medical Activism: A Foundation of Professionalism

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Clinicians should expand their definition of professionalism to include working for societal change to improve the health of all.

December 29, 2020 | 4 min read

Lessons From “Diary of a Med Student”

By Howard Chang, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Working in healthcare, we interact with people who can be offensive. A med student reflects on how best to respond to patients who are demeaning.

July 31, 2019 | 3 min read

The Healing Circle as a Holistic Framework

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

As can be learned from a Native American healer, to heal profoundly, one must holistically integrate mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of being human.

January 14, 2020 | 3 min read

A Relationship Between Equals

By Madeline Rodriguez, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

The clinically excellent practice is centered on core humanistic values rather than on efficiency or productivity.

July 9, 2019 | 5 min read

Pain, Opioids, and the Constant Shadow of Stigma

By Travis Rieder, PhD, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics

When a patient reports pain, their words need to be met with listening, compassion, and a discussion of how best to address the pain.