There's lots of talk these days about teaching medical students how to be compassionate practitioners; Stanford's School of Medicine has even introduced patient-role players into its admissions process. What some might say is equally important is making sure that doctors and other clinicians have outlets to talk about their feelings. Stanford is doing something about that, too. A story I wrote in this week's Inside Stanford Medicine shows just how much they have to say, when given the chance, and how important it is to their own health:
"In some ways, feelings have taken second place to the illness and the technology," said Douglas Blayney, MD, the Ann & John Doerr Medical Director of the cancer institute. "Patients often have a support network. We in the profession don't often have an opportunity to share with one another, to know what our colleagues are feeling and how they are coping."
