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.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(2):111-115. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2015.17.2.ecas1-1502.
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.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(2):160-166. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2015.17.2.msoc1-1502.
Is it ethical for a psychiatrist to monitor a patient’s blog without the patient’s permission? If so, what information from the blog is suitable for entry in the patient’s medical record?
The eradication of hazing has not diminished the socialization, camaraderie, or commitment of new recruits. The physical, emotional, and mental demands of basic training suffice to produce the outcomes previously ascribed to hazing.
Health care professionals’ use of social media can pose ethical challenges related to the boundary between professional and personal identities, privacy, confidentiality, and the trustworthiness of health care professionals.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(11):1009-1018. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.11.peer1-1511.