A renewed emphasis on professional formation in healthcare education has brought a resurgence of interest in virtue ethics. Students in the professions must discern, aspire toward, and practice the good, to cultivate greater degrees of professional and moral excellence. Historically, virtue ethics in healthcare education has been discussed within the Western (Greco-Judeo-Christian) intellectual tradition. Buddhist ethics can be seen as a virtue-based system that is different but complementary. Of particular interest are the Brahmavihara teachings about the far and near enemies of a virtue. The far enemy is obviously the opposite, but the near enemy is an insidious distortion of the virtue that can be mistaken for the real thing. For example, compassion’s far enemy is cruelty, but its near enemy is pity, which would translate to empathic distress in healthcare providers today. It can be argued that professional training often suffers from confusion between virtues and their near enemies. We will explore the reason for this problem, and possible pedagogical solutions, as we examine contemporary Western understandings of compassion, equanimity, and altruism through the lenses of these traditional Buddhist ideas and practices.
Dr. Rosenzweig is Clinical Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine where he is Director of the Program in Professionalism, Bioethics, and Humanities in the Office of Educational Affairs. He directs courses in Bioethics, Social Medicine and Community Service Learning, and Professionalism. He also teaches mindfulness and clinical communication skills. Dr. Rosenzweig is a member of the medical staff of Hahnemann University Hospital and Abington Memorial Hospital.