A Novel Graphic Medicine Curriculum for Resident Physicians: Boosting Empathy and Communication through Comics
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A Novel Graphic Medicine Curriculum for Resident Physicians: Boosting Empathy and Communication through Comics Lara K. Ronan 1
& M. K. Czerwiec
2
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Curricular design that addresses residency physician competencies in communication skills and professionalism remains a challenge. Graphic Medicine (GM) uses comics, a medium combining text and images, to communicate healthcare concepts. Narrative Medicine, in undergraduate medical education, has limited reported usage in Graduate Medical Education (GME). Given the time constraints and intensity of GME, we hypothesized that comics as a form of narrative medicine would be an efficient medium to engage residents.The authors created a novel curriculum to promote effective communication and professionalism, focusing on empathy, compassion and cultural competency. A four-week curriculum was delivered in a neurology residency program. Excerpts from non-fiction graphic memoirs about neurological conditions were read, discussed, and paired with prompt-driven drawing exercises. Qualitative surveys were used to assess acceptability of comics, usefulness of comics to convey patient illness experience, and perception of patient needs for physician-patient communication. Ninety-seven percent of residents reported the sessions were a good use of their time. Residents identified new symptoms of neurologic disorders, articulated patient communication needs, and expressed increased empathy after participation. Residents participated in drawing exercises, but these were not formally analyzed. Graphic medicine is a well received format that may build communication skills and increase empathy. Keywords Graphic medicine . Narrative medicine . Communication skills . Compassion
Introduction Graduate medical education must include curricular components, codified by the ACGME as common program requirements (ACGME 2019), that promote competency in professionalism, * Lara K. Ronan [email protected]
1
Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanona, NH, USA
2
Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
Journal of Medical Humanities
including compassion and respect for diverse individuals and populations, and interpersonal and communication skills. Empathy, compassion, and effective communication are complex, difficult skills to learn and to teach, but targeted interventions may be able to cultivate physician empathy (Kelm et al. 2014). Physician empathy may be described as a “cognitive attribute that involves an ability to understand the patient’s inner experiences and perspective and a capability to communicate this understanding” (Hojat et al. 2002). Resident physicians have been shown to suffer decreases in empathy over the course of training (Bellini and Shea 2005; Neumann et al. 2011) and to suffer symptoms of burnout that may further impair their ability to care for patients compassionately and to communicate effectively (Thomas 2004). Comics depict illness narratives thro
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