Leisure reading has long shaped the moral imagination and professional identity of healers. This manuscript explores how sustained engagement with literature can cultivate empathy, reflective capacity, and clinical reasoning in physician assistant (PA) students. In an era of digital distraction and declining reading for pleasure, immersive reading may serve as a counterbalance that strengthens relational and cognitive skills essential to patient care. Emerging evidence suggests that empathy may decline during PA training, particularly during the didactic phase, when psychological stress is greatest. National surveys report high rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among PA students, with many considering program withdrawal due to mental health challenges. These trends raise concern about preserving empathy and resilience within rigorous training environments. Interdisciplinary research indicates that leisure reading, especially literary fiction, supports stress reduction and perspective taking. Fiction functions as social simulation, strengthening both cognitive and emotional empathy. Emerging evidence also links narrative engagement to enhanced clinical reasoning, including broader differential diagnoses and deeper interpretive insight. Physician assistant programs can incorporate leisure reading through student-led book clubs, reflective writing, humanities electives, and digital communities. Even brief, intentional encounters with literature may foster empathy, resilience, and professional identity formation. Integrating reading into PA education offers a practical, low-cost strategy to support student well-being while cultivating compassionate, reflective clinicians.
Diana Pruitt (Thu,) studied this question.