title: Reconciling technology and humanistic care: Lessons from the next generation of physicians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is concern among physicians that the rising use of technology in medicine may have a negative impact on compassionate patient-centered care. This study explores medical student attitudes and ideas about technology in medicine in order to consider ways to achieve symbiosis between technology use and the delivery of humanistic, patient-centered care.
  
  
  METHODS
  This qualitative study uses data from 138 essays written by medical students in the United States and Canada responding to the prompt "Using a real life experience, describe how technology played a role, either negatively or positively, in the delivery of humanistic patient care." Data were analyzed for themes about technology and the impact on humanistic patient care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven themes emerged from the medical students' essays: Patient Perspective; Life-Giving versus Life-Prolonging; Boundaries between Human and Technology; Distancing versus Presence; Adapting to Change; Tools to Enhance Care; and Definitions of Technology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Listening to medical students lends insight into ways to integrate technology into the healthcare environment, to ensure that physicians' ability to deliver compassionate care is enhanced, not hindered. Utilizing perceptions of the next generation of physicians, educational and developmental strategies are proposed to ensure the successful integration of technology with humanistic patient-centered care.
authors.affiliation: a Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA.|b Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Arabella L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Simpkin
authors.affiliation: c Cambridge Health Alliance , Cambridge , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Perry B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Dinardo
authors.affiliation: c Cambridge Health Alliance , Cambridge , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.affiliation: b Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA.|c Cambridge Health Alliance , Cambridge , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gaufberg
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013337:Students, Medical; D013672:Technology; D014481:United States