40 min
The Role that Empathy, Compassion, and Emotional Agility Play in Bridging the Doctor-Patient Gap with Dr. Joseph Stern The Prosperous Doc
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- Medicine
Dr. Joseph Stern was accustomed to helping patients face some of the toughest times of their lives.
But when his sister was diagnosed with advanced leukemia, he realized what it was like to be on the other side of the doctor-patient relationship — and gained some crucial insights along the way.
To Dr. Stern, grief is a part of life that everyone will experience at some point. This begs the question: why don’t we take an honest and community-oriented approach to dealing with it? Too often, he says, doctors gloss over the intense emotional aspects of their job. Ultimately, that avoidance leads to problems.
“I think a lot of times doctors burn out, not because of the intensity of the emotions, but because of all the effort that they put into avoiding them,” Dr. Stern says.
On this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Stern to talk about how his experience of personal loss has helped him become a more compassionate and empathetic doctor who can help more people.
Dr. Stern talks about how he is working to change the medical field to be more compassionate, focusing less on procedures and more on relationships and quality of life. After his experience grieving the loss of his sister after being with her through such a tough illness, his outlook has shifted toward one of empathy and compassion — and this is something he says everyone can do without much effort.
“Empathy actually doesn't take much time, it's not like you have to devote more time. I think it’s a common myth: people think, well, if I'm going to be empathic, that means I have to see fewer patients, and I have to spend more time (with each of them),” Dr. Stern says. “No: it means making eye contact, it means listening — not just blurting things out. It means being more of a partner and less of a position of authority.”
💡 Featured Expert 💡Name: Dr. Joseph Stern
What he does: Dr. Stern is a board-certified neurosurgeon and author. He is also the co-director of the Cone Health Brain Tumor Program, specializing in brain tumor surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, spinal surgery, and functional neurosurgery. His memoir “Grief Connects Us: A Neurosurgeon’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and Compassion,” explores how grief and loss helped him break down the emotional armor that can hinder incorporating compassion and empathy in a doctor-patient relationship.
Words of wisdom: “An important take-home message is that grief does connect us all. We are all linked together.”
Connect: Website | Linkedin | Instagram | Twitter
💰 On the Money 💰Top takeaways from this episode
★ Learn from your personal experience. Dr. Stern had a really impactful experience on the other side of the curtain in the medical industry when he was helping care for his sister with terminal leukemia. This experience ultimately changed his ethos as a doctor and has made his career more meaningful.
★ Don’t shy away from vulnerability. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, we’ll all come into contact with death and sickness at some point, and supporting each other through those experiences is...
Dr. Joseph Stern was accustomed to helping patients face some of the toughest times of their lives.
But when his sister was diagnosed with advanced leukemia, he realized what it was like to be on the other side of the doctor-patient relationship — and gained some crucial insights along the way.
To Dr. Stern, grief is a part of life that everyone will experience at some point. This begs the question: why don’t we take an honest and community-oriented approach to dealing with it? Too often, he says, doctors gloss over the intense emotional aspects of their job. Ultimately, that avoidance leads to problems.
“I think a lot of times doctors burn out, not because of the intensity of the emotions, but because of all the effort that they put into avoiding them,” Dr. Stern says.
On this episode of the Prosperous Doc ®, our host Shane Tenny, CFP® welcomes Dr. Stern to talk about how his experience of personal loss has helped him become a more compassionate and empathetic doctor who can help more people.
Dr. Stern talks about how he is working to change the medical field to be more compassionate, focusing less on procedures and more on relationships and quality of life. After his experience grieving the loss of his sister after being with her through such a tough illness, his outlook has shifted toward one of empathy and compassion — and this is something he says everyone can do without much effort.
“Empathy actually doesn't take much time, it's not like you have to devote more time. I think it’s a common myth: people think, well, if I'm going to be empathic, that means I have to see fewer patients, and I have to spend more time (with each of them),” Dr. Stern says. “No: it means making eye contact, it means listening — not just blurting things out. It means being more of a partner and less of a position of authority.”
💡 Featured Expert 💡Name: Dr. Joseph Stern
What he does: Dr. Stern is a board-certified neurosurgeon and author. He is also the co-director of the Cone Health Brain Tumor Program, specializing in brain tumor surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, spinal surgery, and functional neurosurgery. His memoir “Grief Connects Us: A Neurosurgeon’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and Compassion,” explores how grief and loss helped him break down the emotional armor that can hinder incorporating compassion and empathy in a doctor-patient relationship.
Words of wisdom: “An important take-home message is that grief does connect us all. We are all linked together.”
Connect: Website | Linkedin | Instagram | Twitter
💰 On the Money 💰Top takeaways from this episode
★ Learn from your personal experience. Dr. Stern had a really impactful experience on the other side of the curtain in the medical industry when he was helping care for his sister with terminal leukemia. This experience ultimately changed his ethos as a doctor and has made his career more meaningful.
★ Don’t shy away from vulnerability. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, we’ll all come into contact with death and sickness at some point, and supporting each other through those experiences is...
40 min