Jules Willcocks interviews John Scott on the topic of compassion in medicine. Practising compassionate and empathetic patient care can benefit doctors. In this podcast, Jules and John discuss the evidence that shows how doctors’ compassion can make huge differences to patient outcomes, but also to doctors’ health and wellbeing. Jules and John chat about why compassion should be an integral part of your day to day practice.
Summary Writer: Lucy Coles
Script Writer: Jules Willcocks and John Scott
Editor: Jules Willcocks
Interviewer: Jules Willcocks
Interviewee: John Scott
John Scott is an Emergency Physician working on the Central Coast of New South Wales.
A naturally optimistic, outgoing and energetic person he was quite shocked to find himself burnt out and depressed at the end of his advanced training in Emergency Medicine. To overcome this unpleasant condition much research and soul searching has lead to John’s passion for mindfulness meditation, the field of positive psychology, the many benefits of regular exercise (crossfit and surfing) and other practices that lead to personal and institutional resilience, personal growth and movement towards our peak performance.
John runs a wellbeing program at Gosford Hospital Emergency Department and is currently undertaking a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing.
Jules Willcocks is an Emergency Medicine Consultant and the Director of Prevocational Education and Training at Gosford Hospital.
His interest is in bringing out the best in people principally through mentoring and coaching. He firmly believes that wellbeing is a crucial part of this and that you cannot look after someone to the best of your abilities if you yourself are not well.
He trained as an executive coach and has a particular interest in financial wellness for doctors.
He is married with two boys, which is why he’s not living a degenerate life in Las Vegas and loves playing poker and fine single malt Islay whisky.
With Dr John Scott, Emergency Medicine Consultant and Director of Performance and Culture at Gosford Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Medicine is an emotionally and physically taxing vocation, with burnout and fatigue common among doctors. The importance of physician wellbeing is being increasingly well-recognised in hospitals and medical schools. This podcast discusses compassionate and empathetic patient care, how practicing this can benefit doctors, and it goes into the evidence that shows how it can make huge differences to patient outcomes and why this should be an integral part of your day to day practice.
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