A Pilot Study to Compare the Standardized Patient's Perception of Empathy Among the American Medical Graduates and International Medical Graduates Applying for Residency Training in the United States

Abstract

Abstract:
 Background:
 Empathy is an essential ingredient of patient-centered care. Traditional neurology clerkship does not provide a structured way to teach, evaluate and inculcate the virtue of empathy among our medical students while dealing with various complex neurological conditions. We designed an innovative Objective Structured Clinical Evaluations (O.S.C.E.s) entitled as Empathetic Neurological Care (ENC) O.S.C.E.s as a part of clerkship evaluation to assess empathy among American Medical Graduates (A.M.G.s) and International Medical Graduates (I.M.G.s). We aim to illustrate the model of Empathetic Neurological Care (ENC) O.S.C.E. & to report the comparative analysis of empathy scores among the A.M.G.s and I.M.G.s.
 Methods:
 This is a pilot study comparing empathy among A.M.G.s and I.M.G.s, measured by the Standardized Patients (SPs) using the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy (5-Point Likert Type Scale) during pre-designed ENC-OSCEs. The proposed curriculum included complex neurological cases involving breaking bad news (e.g., delivering the diagnosis of A.L.S.), opioid addiction counseling, disclosing medical error (stroke), and explaining the diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures.
 Conclusion: A.M.G.s scored higher empathy as compared to I.M.G.s by the S.P.s during ENC-OSCEs. We highlight the importance of focused empathy training with assessment during neurology clerkship rotations for A.M.G.s & the need of formal curricular training as a part of the orientation program at the beginning of residency training for I.M.G.s.