Acts of kindness can shape a profession

Willems, Anneliese

doi:10.5694/mja2.51616

Topics

As a struggling medical student, I was shown an act of kindness that continues to shape me even now as a clinician. In the midst of the chaos and disruption ensuing from the COVID‐19 pandemic, I am reminded that kindness can help to ground us as clinicians and reconnect with what makes us human.

1 Yarra Medical Clinic, Melbourne, VIC
2 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC

Correspondence: anneliesew@yarramedical.com.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Asch SM, Atkins DV, Walling A. If kindness were a drug, the FDA would approve it. J Gen Intern Med 2021; 36: 263‐264.
2. Decety J, Fotopoulou A. Why empathy has a beneficial impact on others in medicine: unifying theories. Front Behav Neurosci 2014; 8: 457.
3. Nelson SK, Layous K, Cole SW, Lyubomirsky S. Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self‐focused behavior on psychological flourishing. Emotion 2016; 16: 850‐861.
4. Hui BPH, Ng JCK, Berzaghi E, et al. Rewards of kindness? A meta‐analysis of the link between prosociality and well‐being. Psychol Bull 2020; 146: 1084‐1116.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.