'What I Wish My Surgeon Knew': A Novel Approach to Promote Empathic Curiosity in Surgery

Abstract

Objective: Physician empathy is associated with a variety of superior patient and physician outcomes. Teaching physicians to practice empathic curiosity is challenging however, and relatively few efficient and effective methods have been proposed toward this end. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact and feasibility of a novel approach to foster empathic curiosity during surgical training.

Design: We used an exploratory qualitative approach for our study. Postoperative patients at a single hospital were invited to participate in brief semistructured interviews to better understand their unmet needs. The interview began with the question, "What do you wish your surgeon knew about you?" We audio recorded and transcribed each patient interview. We then iteratively read the transcripts, applied an inductive approach to coding, and used qualitative content analysis to identify themes.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, an academic-affiliated tertiary care facility.

Participants: Patients who underwent general surgery procedures (n = 23) between July and August 2017.

Results: Of those who provided demographic information (n = 21), all were male and 95% were white with a mean age of 63.9 (34-77) years. Of these, 33% (n = 7) of patients experienced a postoperative complication. Patients described 3 broad categories of unmet need in the perioperative setting including: (i) being treated holistically and with dignity; (ii) using clear communication and delineating provider roles; and (iii) setting specific and realistic expectations.

Conclusions: Promoting the use of empathically curious questions, such as "What do you wish your surgeon knew about you?" may help surgical trainees to identify unmet needs that are crucial for optimizing surgical care.

Keywords: Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Patient Care; Professionalism; communication skills; emotional intelligence; empathy; patient satisfaction; surgical education.