Empathy in medicine: What it is, and how much we really need it

It is acknowledged that empathy plays a critical role in the physician-patient relationship and has a positive impact on health outcomes. However, as the field of empathy expands, the lack of conceptual coherence challenges advances in medicine. In fact, in some cases there is little added theoretical or clinical value in applying the all-encompassing term of empathy in medical setting, which is by nature multidimensional, interpersonal and modulated by the context. Functional neuroimaging studies of health professionals, designed to examine patterns of brain activation in response to empathy-eliciting situations bring theoretical clarity to the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie interpersonal sensitivity, emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and caring.