Novel finding: reading fiction can make you a better doctor

“For this was the point, surely: he would be a better doctor for having read literature. What deep readings his modified sensibility might make of human suffering, of the self-destructive folly or sheer bad luck that drive men toward ill health! Birth, death, and frailty in between. Rise and fall – this was the doctor’s business, and it was literature’s too.” – Ian McEwan, Atonement

As a result of the moral dimension of patient care, physician conduct inevitably requires qualities like compassion and empathy. However, the ability to display these attributes is not easily assessed, nor, for that matter, easily taught. These qualities are also difficult to demonstrate under pressure, which is why medicine applicants often practise ethical and interpersonal scenarios for MMI interviews.

Although the importance of empathy is stressed to students during medical school, it can be a difficult task to accurately gauge the affective and emotional state of another, especially when there are limited opportunities to have constructive one-on-one interactions with patients outside of clinical training. In an attempt to master the art of empathy and compassion, some medical students have been known to hunt down heartbroken friends after break-ups, or strike up conversations with their grandmas over tea.

As someone hoping to study medicine in Australia, you’ll be relieved to know that there is an easier, simpler, and more cost-effective way to increase your capacity for empathy and compassion. That way is reading literary fiction. Yes, reading literary fiction is not just useful for when you're preparing for GAMSAT Section 2 to build your essay writing idea bank. Reading widely can also give you richer examples to draw on when reviewing GAMSAT essay examples and building your own arguments. If you need extra stimulus for Task A and Task B, a GAMSAT quote generator can help you practise turning unfamiliar ideas into structured arguments.

As opposed to popular fiction, works categorised as literary fiction are mainly those that explore complexities of the human condition alongside social, political or moral commentaries. Recent research in the fields of cognitive science and psychology has spotlighted deep reading – “slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail with emotional and moral complexity” – as a distinctive experience with a multitude of benefits. Within a recent 2013 study by Kidd and Castano published in Science, it was found that just ten minutes of reading literary fiction significantly increased the scores of participants in an advanced empathy test, which involved correctly identifying facially expressed emotions and inferring affective state from linguistic and visual cues. For anyone still learning what the GAMSAT involves, this same habit of slow interpretation is useful well beyond essay writing. It is especially valuable in GAMSAT Section 1, where passages often require careful inference. You can rehearse that skill with free GAMSAT practice questions that reward close reading rather than rote recall.

It is now proposed that literary fiction functions not as a social simulator, but as an actual social experience in and of itself. Researchers posit that the same cognitive processes are used to navigate both literary fiction and real-life interactions. Just as physicians are required to read between the lines, deep reading requires readers to invest time and energy in understanding characters whose inner conflicts and thoughts are not always explicitly perceivable. The rise and fall of Macbeth, the ambition of Stephen Dedalus, and the unattainable dreams of Willy Loman are all visceral experiences facilitated by literary fiction that cannot be experienced in real life, and this is what makes them so valuable to medical students working out how to become a doctor in Australia.

There is still a considerable dearth in research within this field, but such novel findings are very encouraging. So next time you’re flicking through Kindle or strolling through your local bookstore, pick up some James Joyce or Dostoyevsky to really connect with your fellow man. Building a novel into your GAMSAT preparation is an easy way to keep that habit alive.

Check out our GAMSAT To Med School Podcast for more tips & tricks about the GAMSAT, applying to medical school, and life at med school. If you want more structured support alongside your reading, explore our free GAMSAT preparation materials.