We have launched the landing page for the project “The Person, Not the Disease: The Empathy Lab in Medical Education”

Almost a year ago, we launched a series of events called “The Person, Not the Disease: The Empathy Lab in Medical Education.” We started with online meetings about empathy in nursing and how to integrate humanity into medical university curricula. At the time, we wrote: “And this is just the beginning.”

Today we can say — it truly was the beginning of a big conversation.

Over this time, the laboratory has become a place where medical professionals, educators, facilitators, students, and international experts talked about how to teach empathy, how to teach medical communication, and how to change the culture of interaction with patients.

And now we have a full-fledged project landing page where you will find:

• all events in one place;

• video recordings on YouTube;

• downloadable summaries for each session;

• speakers’ presentations (where available);

• series with international experts — in Ukrainian and English.

The landing page serves as a base of knowledge and practical tools for those who:

• teach in medical higher education institutions;

• update educational programs;

• launch communication courses;

• implement interprofessional education;

• look for evidence-based approaches to assessing communication skills;

• want to teach students how to conduct difficult conversations;

• think about how to balance hard and soft skills in medical education.

Over the year, together we explored:

• empathy in nursing;

• administrative opportunities for implementing a communication curriculum in universities;

• international experience in teaching clinical communication (Denmark and other countries);

• educational standards and competencies — where empathy and communication fit within them;

• best international practices in teaching communication;

• how to teach difficult conversation skills;

• the evidence base for teaching and assessing communication skills;

• the student perspective on communication training;

• teaching competencies and a safe educational space;

• the Swedish model of problem-based learning and simulated patients;

• interprofessional collaboration and the Quintuple Aim model;

• various formats of interactive exercises and the use of improvisation in teaching communication.

The participation of international speakers from Denmark, Belgium, Israel, Australia, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, and Hungary was made possible through cooperation with EACH and the tEACH working group. And all of this experience is now systematized and available in one place.

The project was born out of the first Ukrainian manual, “Humanity and Empathy in Healthcare: A Guide for Educators and Beyond.” Its initiator and producer is Anastasiia Leukhina, author of “The Not-At-All-Scary Book.” It was her years of working with patient stories, facilitating difficult conversations, and striving to speak honestly about the doctor-patient relationship that created the demand for this laboratory.

Watch the sessions you missed, use the summaries as study materials, share with colleagues—and grab ideas for change right now.

“We share successes and mistakes, learning from the experience of Ukrainian and international specialists who promote empathy and communication. This knowledge helps change medical education and reboot the relationship between doctors and patients. We share, we don’t impose. Join us!”, notes Anastasiia Leukhina.

Now the laboratory has its own digital home.

Over the year, we held 17 events: lectures, discussions, workshops, and masterclasses, 11 of which featured international experience.

We invite you to:

• rewatch the sessions you missed;

• use the summaries as study materials;

• share the landing page with colleagues;

• return to the recordings when developing courses;

• take ideas for change right now—using the resources available.

We are convinced that empathy in medicine is a professional competency and a skill that can and must be taught.