There are at least two considerations here: the patient’s perception of a physician’s empathic expression and the physician’s level of comfort with expressing empathy and attending to patients’ emotions.

One way of transmitting culture is through narrative scripts—ideas about the kind of self one ought to become—that shape medical students’ ideas of what desires, attitudes, behaviors, and dispositions are expected or unbecoming of professionals.

Medical schools need to be transparent about their admission policies and to develop equitable financial aid packages for applicants with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status, who would contribute to a diverse health care workforce able to meet the needs of evolving communities.

Increasing the racial and socioeconomic diversity of the physician workforce requires revising admissions standards, providing financial education, and developing programs to expose high school students to health care fields.

Announcement about the name change from Virtual Mentor to AMA Journal of Ethics.

Effective resident education balances supervision to ensure patient safety with independence to ensure the resident’s professional growth; achieving this balance requires mutual trust.

The hidden curriculum may undermine the messages, skills, and values that “On Doctoring” courses intend to convey.

Medical educators must become aware of undesirable behaviors or attitudes that they may inadvertently be modeling to students in the clinic because the implicit messages students receive can profoundly affect their behavior and interactions with patients.

The 2011 duty-hour restrictions and the shift to team-based care challenge the medical profession to reconceptualize the traditional ethic of individual physician responsibility for patients.

To deny entrance to the medical profession on the basis of physical disability is unjustified and will not benefit patients.