Leslie Jamison starts The Empathy Exams with a quote from The Self-Tormentor by Terence, first in Latin, then in English: “I am human: nothing human is alien to me.” In beginning this way, she sets up the book to explore the human condition and what it means to relate to one another with caring despite the interpersonal complications that can often arise. Through a series of nonfiction essays (some initially published elsewhere) she explores how we express our feelings and process those of others. To do this, Jamison uses a number of different lenses, large and small, including ultramarathons, immigration, incarceration, a Morgellons disease conference, and more. The book takes its name from the first essay in which Jamison juxtaposes her experience as a standardized patient for students in medical school with being an actual patient. She specifically explores the ways in which empathy is created/manufactured and extended in medicine, both from medical professionals and loved ones.
