I was very nervous at the start of the placement because I have always struggled with starting conversations. The idea of speaking with someone much older than me and focusing on non-medical topics felt quite daunting. I was worried I wouldn’t know what to say or how to keep the conversation going.

I was very nervous at the start of the placement because I have always struggled with starting conversations. The idea of speaking with someone much older than me and focusing on non-medical topics felt quite daunting. I was worried I wouldn’t know what to say or how to keep the conversation going.

For this first-year medical student, visiting a care home was daunting. There was no medical history to take or diagnosis to make. The task was to get to know an older resident through conversation.

Listening and showing compassion are core expectations of medical graduates. Yet empathy can be difficult to develop and sustain. Some studies suggest it declines during medical training, particularly when students enter clinical settings, although other research reports mixed findings.

One possible explanation is the “hidden curriculum”: attitudes students absorb from doctors and clinical environments alongside formal teaching. A 2023 review of 16 studies identified heavy workloads and poor role models among influences that may encourage emotional detachment.

Doctors need to manage their emotions in distressing situations. How can medical schools also encourage students to remain curious about the people experiencing illness?

Getting to know the person

At the University of Lancashire, I developed The Person Before the Patient project, a care-home placement piloted in 2023/24. It was made compulsory for first-year medical students in 2024/25.

The........

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