Complex sentence: It was during this time that he developed the eagerness to understand the problems of the common man, he attributes his ability to empathize with people to the time spent interacting with patients in different hospitals during his father's prolonged illness.
Split into simpler sentences: It was during this time that he developed the eagerness to understand the problems of the common man. He often attributes his ability to empathize with other people stemming from the time spent interacting with patients in different hospitals during his father's prolonged illness.