Enhancing and sustaining empathy in medical students.

Publication/Presentation Date

12-1-2013

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Empathy is an important component of physician competence that needs to be enhanced.

AIM: To test the hypotheses that medical students' empathy can be enhanced and sustained by targeted activities.

METHODS: This was a two-phase study in which 248 medical students participated. In Phase 1, students in the experimental group watched and discussed video clips of patient encounters meant to enhance empathic understanding; those in the control group watched a documentary film. Ten weeks later in Phase 2 of the study, students who were in the experimental group were divided into two groups. One group attended a lecture on empathy in patient care, and the other plus the control group watched a movie about racism. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was administered pre-post in Phase 1 and posttest in Phase 2.

RESULTS: In Phase 1, the JSE mean score for the experimental group improved significantly (p <  0.01); no change in the JSE scores was observed in the control group. In Phase 2, the JSE mean score improvement was sustained in the group that attended the lecture, but not in the other group. No change in empathy was noticed in the control group.

CONCLUSION: Research hypotheses were confirmed.

Volume

35

Issue

12

First Page

996

Last Page

1001

ISSN

1466-187X

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

23758178

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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