Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Emphasizes Empathy and Communication During First Weeks of Medical Education

FORT WORTH – In one of her first medical school courses, Mira Mehra joined one of six groups to invent their own culture.

 Ten minutes later, professors told the medical students to leave their groups and interact with peers to learn about their cultures.

The exercise instantly showed how communication can bring people together or create isolation among others, according to Mehra, MS1 at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.

“The first Physician Communication class was very humbling,” Mehra said.

The Burnett School of Medicine at TCU welcomed its eighth cohort of students with a two-week Introduction to Medicine curriculum that placed an emphasis on empathy and communication. This novel approach to medical education is part of the school’s mission to transform healthcare by inspiring Empathetic Scholars®.

“In Introduction To Medicine, we want every one of the skills we teach here to start as fundamentals and for our students to be able to internalize them in the way that works best for them,” said Erin Nelson, Psy.D., Associate Dean of Physician Communication.

During the two weeks, students are introduced to integral parts of the curriculum such as Simulation and  Technology, Service Learning, Clinical Skills, Scholarly Pursuit and Thesis (SPT) research, Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC), and Physician Communication. Students meet Standardized Patients (SPs), use the Microsoft HoloLens® virtual reality system, and gain hands-on experience using ultrasound equipment.

The SPs allow students to apply their communication skills on real people in a safe environment.

“At Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, it’s all about the patient,” said Luke Homfeldt, MS-1. “Working with standardized patients helps us hone our communication skills before we go into the clinical side.”

The emphasis on communication and developing great bedside manner weaved throughout the curriculum allows students to understand the importance of communication skills as medical professionals.

“Our professors talked to us about the power that we get from the knowledge of medicine,” Mehra said. “It was very motivating to hear stories about what this degree will bring us and how we can help other people using it.”

Communication is given a physical form during their first Content Framing course. The first patient students meet is retired Phoenix police officer and author Jason Schechterle who suffered severe burns after a car crash in 2001. Schechterle shared his emotional story and attributed his recovery to his resolute mindset and caring medical professionals.

Students reflected on how Schechterle encouraged an empathetic approach to communicating with patients.

“TCU is practicing what they preach by teaching us to be Empathetic Scholars®,” said Nicholas Chu, MS-1. “Behind all the patient care decisions we have to make is a human who deserves empathy.”

Students also explored the new Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH) Relationship-Centered Communication course, which highlights how to build rapport as a physician, elicit a patient’s perspective, and how to respond to a patient with empathy.

“Burnett School of Medicine at TCU is one of the first universities to apply the ACH curriculum in the first year of medical school,” Dr. Nelson said. “What they learn through this course, they will practice every day in their Clinical Skills course.”

Understanding why empathy is a core piece of the patient-physician relationship is why Calista McCausland, MS-1, chose the Burnett School of Medicine.

“Empathy is important because you have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the patients so that you can meet their needs,” McCausland said.