Are soft skills “soft”? Importance of soft skills in facilitating optimal patient care

In 1992, Guyatt and colleagues1 introduced a new approach to medical teaching, coined evidence-based medicine (EBM). This concept, later defined as the conscientious, judicious use of current best evidence to make decisions about the care of individual patients,2 was widely embraced by clinical educators, including those in our profession of pharmacy. For the past 30 years, pharmacy educators have strived to foster hard skills (eg, identification, interpretation, and application of best evidence) in learners to facilitate the development of evidence-based practitioners. But have we as educators strayed too far in one direction, emphasizing hard skills while unknowingly minimizing the development and refinement of soft skills (eg, empathy, compassion, and self-awareness)? Are soft skills considered of lesser importance or are they sidelined because they are far more difficult than hard skills to teach and assess? In 1996, the aim of EBM was further clarified to acknowledge the value of soft skills, specifically compassion and attention to patients’ preferences, rights, and predicaments.2 Moving forward, how do we help our future practitioners best execute EBM by partnering both hard and soft skills?