At MGH, schooling doctors in the power of empathy

It was a classic mismatch: an angry, demanding woman and an impatient, brusque man. Time and again, they pushed each other's buttons. It ended with a breakup. But these weren't lovers squabbling. He was a doctor, and she was his patient. She didn't like his drug prescription for her high cholesterol. She loudly ticked off the side effects she'd read about and demanded a regime of diet and alternative medicine instead. The doctor's frown, his tone of voice, and his reply registered his impatience. If she wouldn't take his advice, he said, he would refer her to another physician.