The paper provides a corpus-based semantic analysis of patients' opinions on doctors published on the ZnanyLekarz.pl web portal. The analysis is aimed at depicting the medical professionals' traits and behaviours that patients interpret as expressions of empathy. The fi ndings suggest that while patients value the doctor's empathy, they perceive it as a relatively rare quality in doctors. The sphere where empathy manifests itself to the greatest extent is undoubtedly doctor–patient

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... : unhurried interview, active listening, explaining the course of the necessary medical procedures, responding to the patient's questions, showing emotional support. Although the fi ndings coincide with the recommendations found in the communication guides addressed to doctors, taking into account the perspective of the patient is necessary, since patients' perception of empathy may not correlate perfectly with doctors' self-assessment.