Session 1: Feeling the Pain: Empathy and Action

Program Release: August 6, 2022 Expiration Date: August 6, 2023 Estimated time to complete: 25 minutes There are no prerequisites for participation This presentation will discuss the importance of being empathetic with patients in their recovery and its limits.The presentation will then review the different coping strategies employed by physicians to protect themselves from patients’ suffering that become habits and contribute to exhaustion. With these in mind, the presentation will also discuss specific strategies for stepping out of unhelpful habit loops.

• Discuss how empathy fatigue can lead to burnout 
• Name the core elements of the process of reinforcement learning
• Recognize coping behavior strategies to protect from patients’ suffering
• Identify new strategies to step out of unhelpful habit loops