Teaching and Learning of Empathy in Health Professions Education

Elize Archer, is an Associate Professor in Health Professions Education at the University of Stellenbosch. I am a Critical Care Nurse by background and has been the Head of the Simulation and Clinical Skills Unit (SCSU) at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, for the last 16 years. The SCSU has equipment ranging from low fidelity task trainers to state-of-the-art high- fidelity equipment to teach and assess large numbers of students each year. The Unit is used by all six undergraduate programmes as well as some of the post-graduate programmes in the faculty. I am involved in various faculty development initiatives, such as teaching and learning in the clinical environment, the OSCE as a tool for clinical assessment, to name a few. My current research projects are focusing on assessment and the teaching and learning of empathy and communication skills. Furthermore, I am teaching on our Masters in Health Professions Education programme and supervise several Masters and PhD students. I am currently the president of the Southern African Association of Health Educationalists, with the aim to promote HPE in our context.