Knowledge or Kindness? What Patients Really Want

The Human Factor - I trained in Germany, where precision ruled over emotion. Here, I found the opposite expectation: patients want to feel understood. Which matters more—clinical skill or compassion?

When I trained in Germany, empathy was not part of the curriculum. Germans are not much known for empathy or compassion. Not then. We were taught to be correct, not comforting. A good German doctor was one who made the right diagnosis, prescribed the right treatment, and didn’t waste time on small talk. Patients were called by their bed number. Never fi…