General Session I: Opening Keynote - Compassionomics: The Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference
Session Summary: Recent data indicate that healthcare is experiencing a compassion crisis. But a pivotal question is this: Does compassion really matter? Compassion has always been a cornerstone of the "art" of medicine, but are there also evidence-based effects of compassion belonging in the science of medicine? And what is the evidence? In this keynote presentation, Dr. Stephen Trzeciak will share the findings of his journey through the scientific literature to test the hypothesis that compassion matters - for patients, for patient care, and for those who care for patients. Compelling research shows that compassion has measurable beneficial effects on patients across a wide variety of conditions and moves patients to take better care of themselves. Importantly, research also supports that compassion can be a powerful beneficial therapy for the giver, too. In fact, science supports that compassion - and the deeper relationships that flow from that - can be an antidote to burnout. Dr. Trzeciak will also share a story of where the science meets the personal: his experience of going through burnout himself, and how compassion was a key to his recovery. Participants in this educational activity will learn that compassion matters - not only in meaningful ways, but also in measurable ways.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the evidence for a compassion crisis in healthcare.
- Describe the evidence that compassionate care is associated with measurable benefits for patients, healthcare systems, and healthcare workers.
Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH
Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH is a physician scientist, the Edward D. Viner Endowed Chief of Medicine at Cooper University Health Care, and Professor and Chair of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. Trzeciak is a practicing intensivist (specialist in intensive care medicine), and a clinical researcher with more than 100 publications in the scientific literature. Dr. Trzeciak's publications have been featured in prominent medical journals, such as JAMA, Circulation, and The New England Journal of Medicine. His scientific program has been supported by research grants from the National Institutes of Health and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, with Dr. Trzeciak serving as Principal Investigator. Dr. Trzeciak is the co-author of Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference (2019), and Wonder Drug: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways That Serving Others Is the Best Medicine for Yourself (2022). His work has been featured in numerous media outlets including CNN, NPR, USA TODAY, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, and Freakonomics. For this work, he was awarded the Influencers of Healthcare Award by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Broadly, Dr. Trzeciak’s mission is to raise compassion and kindness globally, through science. Dr. Trzeciak is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He earned his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Master’s of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He completed his residency training at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his fellowship in critical care medicine at Rush University Medical Center. He is board certified in internal medicine, critical care medicine, and neurocritical care.
