What is the Difference Between Sympathy and Empathy?
Empathy is a key skill that medical schools look for in applicants.
Sympathy vs Empathy
'I feel sorry for you.'
Ouch. That's not a sentence we want to hear. It comes from someone feeling superior. We realise the speaker isn’t sharing our problem and they have their own feelings about it.
'I really understand what you're going through.'
That one feels nicer. It shows the power of empathy. We can put ourselves in someone else's shoes and let them know we relate to their experience of the world. The writer Philip K. Dick went as far as to say empathy is what makes us human.
A Story About Empathy
Over Christmas weekend in 2020, Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer, was not at home with his family, but on a north London hospital’s respiratory ward. Whitty chose to be on the front line of the pandemic and lead by example.
If he had wanted to show sympathy for front-line nurses and doctors, he would have written 'I feel terrible that this is so hard for you...', in a tweet from his living room. What Whitty actually demonstrated was a level of empathy we all hope to see in healthcare. He put himself in the shoes of those in a worse position - voluntarily.
Dr. Brené Brown, an American professor and popular thought leader, says:
Empathy fuels connection. Sympathy drives disconnection.
Dr. Whitty was showing connection in his solidarity with the frontline healthcare staff. He was not trying to solve their problems or tell them they were unfortunate, as that is not part of empathy.
People fundamentally don’t want pity. We want someone to listen and understand what we are feeling. When others share similar experiences, it helps us understand our own issues. Healthcare is a great example of this, because it is a pressured environment, and highly emotional for both staff and patients.
What is sympathy: A Place for Pity?
Sympathy is not a bad emotion, and is a natural part of human experience. The positive side of sympathy is that it leads to compassion, and this is a trigger for action. The tricky side is that it’s not useful to show people your sympathy, as it undermines them.
Action is what can relieve someone's suffering. When we take action, it doesn't really matter what our motivation is. If you see a homeless person, you may feel sorry for them and be driven by compassion to give them some food or money. That is not a bad action or motivation. But if you were unaware of the effects of sympathy, you might say something like 'oh, you are probably cold and hungry and I feel very sorry for you'. This wouldn’t help the person’s self-esteem and showing your true motivation in this way is not emotionally beneficial.
How to Show Empathy - in 5 Steps
Why is Empathy Essential in Healthcare?
Recent clinical studies have shown that metrics ranging from lung function and time in hospital to patient experience and perceived pain all improve when a doctor shows empathy. It can even shorten the length of a virus, such as the common cold.
Empathy lowers patients’ anxiety and distress and delivers significantly better clinical outcomes.
A highly-regulated place like a hospital can quickly turn into an inhuman environment without key people skills like empathy. The word ‘clinical’ is actually used as a synonym for an environment that lacks humanity.
Imagine a sick patient being told, “I feel sorry for you”. It would feel deeply isolating. Just that linguistic nuance can change a heartfelt sentence into a patronising insult. It’s isolating, because it means the doctor is identifying as separate from the patient, patronising because saying a bad situation is bad suggests the patient didn’t realise that already.
How to Learn Empathy?
Empathy is a skill, not an innate ability. Like most skills it is broken into sub-skills:
- Recognising the emotions of others:
What are their main stressors? What does their body language suggest?
- Spending time adopting someone’s perspective:
How might they be feeling? Asking yourself this question can become a habit. It is important to reflect on what the person may have experienced in the days and hours leading up to your meeting. You can use your past experiences as a shortcut, or simply rely on your intuition.
- Using language carefully to express your empathy in the right way:
You already know about avoiding too many personal pronouns, but there are wider considerations, such as your tone of voice, your body language, and the words you choose. Psychologists are famously cautious with their language for this very reason.
As you can see, none of these sub-skills require you to feel someone else’s emotions or to be a very emotional person. Providing you can recognise how someone is feeling, you can take the necessary steps. Our autopilot is to see the world from our own perspective, but regular practice can help you step outside of this more easily. Mental exercises of this type improve the way you relate to other people in your life.
Practice with these example empathy questions to put these lessons into action.
Summary
- When dealing with difficult situations, you need to express empathy rather than sympathy.
- Empathy is using your experience to stand in someone else’s shoes and relate to their experience.
- Sympathy is focused on your own feelings and means you feel bad if someone is in an unfortunate situation.
- People don't normally like to be sympathised with, whereas empathy is a universal need.
- Sympathy is not inherently bad, but it is not often useful to express explicitly.
- Empathy from medical professionals significantly improves patients’ outcomes. It is a trait that medical schools desire from their applicants.
Reflect on these lessons when preparing for your medical school interviews.
What should I do one month before my UCAT?
Keep practising! A month sounds like a long time, but time will quickly vanish. Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals such as reaching a certain score by a certain date or time.
Niche down even further on your weaknesses – by this stage you should just be focusing on what you find hardest. Make sure you factor in breaks and days off into your schedule, as well as any important events which you need to attend.
Read the 'Good medical practice' by the Medical Board of Australia if you haven’t already. It will inform you about the different duties of healthcare professionals and how they should respond to different scenarios, which is essential for the Situational Judgement Test section of the UCAT.
Try Medify's Skills Trainers, such as inference scanning for Verbal Reasoning, to maximise your score (these are included in our UCAT ANZ Online Course). Make sure you've also completed plenty of UCAT practice tests.
The UCAT exam is two hours with no breaks in between, so practise at least two hours each time to build your mental stamina. You should also simulate the exam environment as closely as possible – this means treating every mock test as if it were a real one.
For instance, you should sit mock exams at the same time of the day as your actual UCAT exam and ensure there are no distractions. By mirroring the test conditions, not only will it prepare you for what to expect on test day, it should also help to decrease any anxiety leading up to the exam. Otherwise, your brain has to process the ‘new’ way of completing the test.
What should I do one week before my UCAT?
At this point, you'll know the format of the exam inside out and will have practised the questions enough times to get used to UCAT timings. Don’t give up – keep preparing in an environment where you cannot be interrupted.
Remember, a lot of your preparation will have been done in the weeks and months before this final week, so be careful not to overdo it and become too fatigued. Your motivation may drop or you might ‘peak’ before the test. Your body needs rest too.
Now is a great time to introduce or increase self-care in your regime. Whether it’s watching Netflix, gaming, or just running a bath, it’s important to detach yourself from UCAT revision from time to time to avoid the risk of burnout.
In this week you should also prioritise your nutrition and sleep. Eat well, do not miss meals and keep hydrated. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep in the days before the test by avoiding late night cramming or staying awake into the early hours.
If it puts your mind at rest, you can check last year’s UCAT scores, but remember that this is all about your personal journey and performance, so don't get hung up on that information!
What should I do one day before my UCAT?
We do not advise doing a mock this close to the exam. Revision won't help you much at this stage and can actually leave you worse off. Instead, use this time to wind down and get yourself into a relaxed state. This will enable you to perform at your best on test day.
Try to get to bed early and avoid things that can affect sleep, such as looking at your phone before bed. If you think that you will struggle to sleep on time, you could try doing some exercise during the day to tire yourself out.
Exercise can boost your brainpower by oxygenating your brain, helping you learn and aid sleep. Plus, activity makes your body release endorphins, which can reduce anxiety and stress levels.
Make sure you double check your UCAT test centre information, the travel route to the test centre, the time of your UCAT exam, and so on, so you’re well prepared for test day. If someone else is giving you a ride to the test centre, it’s worth reminding them.
What should I do on the day of my UCAT?
You should start the day off with a nutritious breakfast and give yourself enough time to arrive early to the test centre to avoid feeling flustered, rushed or stressed.
Remember that buses and trains can be late and that traffic may be heavier than you had hoped, so allow extra time whichever way you are travelling. Find out how to choose a UCAT test centre.
Make sure you know how to get to the test centre – for instance you could consider taking a map with you. If you’re using your phone for directions, make sure it’s sufficiently charged and that you have spare data (otherwise you can download the map ahead of time to use offline).
On test day you will be expected to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled test time to complete the check-in process.
You need to bring:
- Your test confirmation email
- Photographic ID from the approved list
When you arrive at the test centre, it’s likely that you’ll be experiencing a heightened sense of adrenaline. This is completely normal, but it could be helpful to learn some mindfulness tricks to reduce your stress levels. For instance, you could focus on your breathing to help you relax.
Don’t forget, during your test there are one minute introductions between each subtest. You can skip these, but we recommend using the time to mentally refresh yourself.
If you’ve stuck to your revision plan, and followed our advice above, the best thing you can do on test day is to try and keep as calm as possible. Take solace in the fact that you have prepared for weeks/months to get to this point, and channel any nervous energy into doing the best you can during your UCAT test.
What should I eat and drink leading up to the UCAT?
You should think about your diet well ahead of UCAT test day. Focus on foods that release energy slowly (that is, which have a low glycaemic index, or GI) which will stop you from feeling hungry. These are ideal for UCAT preparation, as well as on test day itself.
Try eating protein and low-GI carbohydrates, such as meat or baked beans, brown (whole grain) rice or pasta, or wholegrain breakfast cereals or muesli. However, do not stray far from your usual diet on the day of the test in case you feel sick. You may want to try these foods out at the same time of day a few weeks in advance.
Be wary of energy drinks and coffee. If you’re not used to them then don’t drink them, especially in large quantities. Caffeine can acutely increase anxiety, and the sugar rush of an energy drink is soon followed by insulin slamming on the brakes, leaving you feeling worse than before. These products are no substitute for a good night’s sleep, eating properly and exercising.
No food or drink is allowed in the test room so eat a healthy meal before your UCAT test and ensure you’re hydrated. While you should make sure you’re drinking enough water, do not overdo it, otherwise you might need the toilet while the timer is ticking.
Please note, access arrangements are available if you have a disability, learning difficulty or long-term medical condition. You may be entitled to extra time and/or rest breaks, and allowed certain items, such as water, at your test centre workstation.
What happens at the UCAT test centre?
- At the registration desk, you will be asked to show a valid photographic ID and a printed/electronic copy of your confirmation email from Pearson VUE.
- You will be asked to sign a signature pad and take a photograph.
- You will be given spiral bound laminated sheets and a black marker pen. You may also request earplugs.
- Do not take anything other than your ID into the examination room. A locker or a coat hanger will be available.
- Go to the bathroom if you need to.
- Once the staff have prepared your exam, you may enter the exam room. You may be asked to undergo a body check (e.g. turning up your pockets and rolling your sleeves).
- The staff will guide you to the seat, or you may be able to choose your desk. Take some time to prepare yourself and relax. Your two hours have not yet started.
What is the UCAT test environment like?
This image shows a typical UCAT test environment:
There is no audio element to the test, but you can request earplugs to block out any noise that might disrupt your concentration.
You will have access to a basic onscreen calculator which may be useful for the Quantitative Reasoning and Decision Making sections.
You will be given a laminated notebook and marker pen. Consider using these for:
- Quantitative Reasoning: Noting down numbers during multi-step workings
- Abstract Reasoning: Writing down mnemonics for pattern recognition
- Decision Making: Noting calculations and drawing diagrams
If you require an additional notebook and pen, you can raise your hand and ask the invigilator. Although the invigilator will check that your pen is working before the test, we advise double-checking this to avoid seeking assistance during the test.
What happens during my UCAT test?
- Once you are ready, follow the on-screen instructions.
- Your exam will be in the following order:
- Verbal Reasoning
- Decision Making
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Abstract Reasoning
- Situational Judgement
- You will have one minute before each section to read the instructions. You can skip it, but this will not give you an extra minute to answer the questions. Use this time to give your mind a quick break.
- If you have any issues, such as requiring a toilet break, you can quietly raise your hand. However, your time will continue running.
- After your exam, there may be an opportunity to answer a short optional survey on UCAT ANZ preparation and the quality of the venue.
- Raise your hand when you've finished and the examiner will guide you out of the exam room. You need to return your laminated board and marker pen.
- Collect your belongings and leave the test centre.
- Your UCAT ANZ results will be emailed to you shortly (usually between 30 minutes and one hour). All results will be delivered to UCAT ANZ Consortium universities automatically.
- If you’ve achieved the scores that you desire, well done.
- Even if you haven’t achieved the scores you wanted, congratulate yourself for getting through a really tough process. You've done exceptionally well just to get to this point. Plus, you can always take the UCAT again next year or consider graduate entry to medicine – do not give up on your dream!
Do you need help preparing for the UCAT ANZ? Head over to our UCAT ANZ Online Course and we’ll get you signed up to guide you through the whole process.
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