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In Reply: Dr Haller’s vivid account of meeting a patient illustrates how acting can be used to proactively change the physician’s mindset, enhance motivation to learn about the patient, and subsequently empathize with him or her. Haller’s training in acting certainly serves him well in his profession.

We believe that Dr Lipsitt has misunderstood the meaning of "acting" and replaced it with a conventional notion of "fake sincerity." As Haller states, to act is to present "a distilled, heightened reality." Acting as an art form, when well practiced, moves both the actors and the audience.

Second, by confusing deep and surface acting, Lipsitt inappropriately interprets deep acting as a form of sophisticated surface acting. Third, we did not advocate adopting the provider-consumer model of physician-patient relationship. Rather, we adopted a broad definition of emotional labor and stated that its purpose is to present a professionally desired image during interpersonal transactions. . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Xin Yao, PhC
Business School
University of Washington

Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH
larson.e@ghc.org
Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies
Seattle, Wash