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On this episode
In a high-stakes, public-facing job, balancing empathy with maintaining professional boundaries is not an easy task. The emotional demands of our job and the need to be empathetic can weigh on us over time, and contribute to burnout.
This is where stories come in. Be they fiction, poetry, or memoire, engaging with stories can enhance our empathy and help us process our emotions in a safe and controlled way. it can help us practice how to feel, or give us comfort in the knowledge we’re not the only ones to think a thought we might want to express out loud.
This week, Rachel is joined by Dr Tara George, who integrates humanities into the medical training she provides. This helps to stimulate discussion and reflection, and allows for the exploration of different perspectives and experiences – all of which broadens our understanding of the human condition.
If you’re looking to beat burnout, consider making some time to pick up a novel, or treat yourself to a new film or TV drama. The stories and emotions they bring up may help you make space for others’ experiences, and they’re a great way to open a dialogue with a colleague.
Show links
More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
- How to Escape the Drama Triangle and Stop Rescuing People – Episode 75, with Annie Hanekom
- Passing the Naughty Monkey Back – Episode 65, with Dr Amit Sharma
- Finding Your Opposite World to Beat Burnout – Episode 236, with Nick Petrie
Download the episode’s podsheet. You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD.
Bedside Reading – Tara’s podcast
About the guests
Tara George is a GP, trainer, and training programme director with a passion for integrating humanities into medical training, using literature and other creative works to stimulate discussion, reflection, and broaden understanding of the human condition.
She runs the Humanities In Medical Education Facebook group, and hosts the Bedside Reading podcast: a book club for people in medicine.
Follow Dr Tara George
Reasons to listen
- To discover how literature and the humanities can enhance empathy and resilience in healthcare professionals
- To explore the unique ways in which fiction and poetry can be used in medical training to engage emotions and improve understanding
- To learn the importance of balancing empathy with professional boundaries to avoid burnout in high-stress professions
Episode highlights
The power of humanities
The role of emotion in medicine
The case for reading fiction
Empathy
“Who does this story belong to?
Narrative arcs
Tip out your bag, but take the contents back with you
The incredible power of feeling seen
Is this your problem to fix?
Soldier Sailer
Knowing when to say you don’t know
Humanities in Medical Education
Episode transcript
[00:00:00] Rachel: If you’ve listened to this podcast for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a massive fan of self-help books. In fact, I’ve talked before about how I noticed that my stack of BMJs was growing and growing because I chose to spend my evenings instead of with Brenae Brown and Daniel Pink. [00:00:15] Rachel: But while these pigs have a lot to say about what it’s like to be human, the stories we find in novels and poems, or even in films can teach us even more about how other people think and feel. And they…
