Roundtable participants raised important concerns about the limits of a curriculum that remains heavily rooted in basic science and insufficiently centered on human experience. They asked how concepts like empowerment, empathy, compassion, and care should be defined. Participants also questioned what is lost when education and training focus narrowly on technical knowledge rather than a holistic view of patients’ lives. Participants noted that care work and care expertise have long been undervalued, dismissed as “soft science,” at the same time as healthcare systems increasingly prioritize automation over quality of life and better health outcomes.

They also highlighted the consequences of these gaps in training and culture: providers often lack meaningful context for the communities they serve, active listening is not prioritized, and burnout continues to undermine clinicians’ ability to connect with patients. Participants explored how to broaden the definition of the healthcare workforce, shift social norms around who is recognized as a caregiver, and consider whether accountability for compassion and care should be built into training and evaluation. They emphasized that empathy and compassion are not innate. These qualities can be taught, strengthened, and embedded in the future of healthcare.

Research Questions

• What does evidence show about whether compassionate health care professionals make better care providers?
  
• Where are there successful examples of training in empathy and compassion in systems that are not? (Positive Deviance Theory)
• What can be learned from promising models of training that incorporate experiential learning? What specific experiences help instill empathy and compassion?
• What approaches could be used to empower the next generation of healthcare workforce professionals to change the financial incentives to promote person-centered care?
• How do “next generation" providers view empathy and compassion? How could these views impact their care practices?
• How can we improve our understanding of how technology is changing the way we attain health and care?
• How does emerging technology and its use impact, support, or hinder the social mission of health care and health care education?
• How does mentoring, along with other types of formal and informal social connections and interactions, foster empathy in people and practice?
• Who are the necessary collaborators for innovating in the area of community-based, community-centered care?