[Empathy in the physician-patient relation--tool or ethics?].

Empathy is a quality sought by patients, and an ideal that is pursued by the physicians themselves and in medical education. It is, however, necessary and important to define the boundaries between the concept of empathy and related concepts such as sympathy and compassion. This article is based on a study of literature addressing empathy and related concepts, and it attempts to illuminate the instrumental as well as moral significance of empathy in the physician-patient relationship. The concept of empathy is seen as the ability to understand another person's situation, and is in itself morally neutral. Our capacity for empathy is based on emotional as well as intellectual skills. Empathy is primarily a mode of understanding that can be expressed by means of communication, but is not in its essence a form of conduct or behaviour. Empathy concerns the physician's fundamental attitude towards the patient and carries an independent moral value. It is part of the moral foundation of medicine and can be seen as a virtue in medical practice.