At the event, Dr. Grimm presented “Compassionate Care in the Medical Field” to first-and-second-year medical students. He discussed the importance of humanism, compassion and medical care in developing nations.
Dr. Grimm said compassionate care is realizing that patients are not strange vehicles carrying a disease that physicians are tasked to eradicate, but they are dignified human beings fully worthy of respect.“Compassionate care is recognizing the whole person— their sorrows, joys, fears and beliefs,” he said. “Most importantly, it is a desire and action to help, heal and enter into a moral friendship based on wisdom, candor and respect.”
According to Dr. Grimm, practicing compassion in health care is beneficial because it can prevent lawsuits, improve business and help prevent burnout. “Numerous studies in medical literature over the years all point out that the best way to avoid a lawsuit is not to be a perfect physician that never makes a mistake or has a bad outcome,” he said. “Instead, being perceived by your patient as an honest, compassionate and engaged communicator that clearly has their best interest at heart is the best protection against lawsuits.”
Dr. Grimm recently returned from a medical mission trip to Rwanda, which he said forced him to step outside of his comfort zone and emphasized the importance of demonstrating compassion in health care. “Rwanda is an amazing experience, and I would strongly encourage everyone to consider participating in mission trips,” he said. “If you really want a crash course in compassionate care, you will learn it in a Third World country.”
The lecture was an extension of Solidarity Week, an annual movement that encourages medical schools and patient care facilities around the country to show the importance of kindness to patients.
Last month, GHHS members participated in several activities to remind students and employees of the importance of compassion in medicine during Solidarity Week.
Watch Dr. Grimm's presentation here.
Learn more about GHHS here and Solidarity Week at USA here.
