Empathy is a required attribute for all health professionals and fundamental to quality patient care. There is compelling research demonstrating that the provision of healthcare devoid of empathy results in a wide range of negative psychological and physiological outcomes for patients. Further, healthcare professionals who practice without empathy are at heightened risk of depression, burnout and attrition. Although it seems reasonable to assume that most healthcare students have an empathic disposition, evidence suggests that empathy levels often decline during the period of enrolment in an undergraduate health degree. Thus, explicit attention must be given to the development of empathy as a requisite employability skill for all healthcare students.

The Virtual Empathy Museum (VEM) project is funded by an Australian Technology Network (ATN) Strategic Initiative Grant. Over the next 12 months we will create unique, engaging and experiential digital resource with a repository of evidence-based, interconnected and immersive curriculum materials intentionally designed to enhance healthcare students and graduates’ empathy skills. The project aims are to:

1. Develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate a Virtual Empathy Museum (VEM) by collecting, creating and curating web-based, authentic and engaging empathy-enhancing resources within a coherent pedagogical framework.

2. Improve healthcare students’ empathy skills so that they are work-ready upon graduation and enabled to make a positive impact to patient safety and quality care.

3. Increase sector wide commitment to integrating empathy development as a core component in healthcare programs and curricula.

4. Generate a robust and coherent body of evidence related to the teaching of empathy skills to healthcare students.

Join us at the Virtual Empathy Museum launch December, 7 2018.