Combating Obstacles to Empathy: A Replicable Small Group Discussion Series for Medical Students

Abstract

The expression of humanism in patient encounters is a core component of the medical profession and evolving national medical student curriculum. Growing evidence suggests that empathetic care improves patient outcomes and diagnostic accuracy while decreasing physician stress and rates of litigation. Unfortunately, multiple recent studies using different scales and survey tools have consistently shown empathy to decrease during the third and fourth years of medical school. We developed a replicable, case-based, student and expert-driven, small-group discussion series designed to address this decline. Over two years, the series included four separate discussions over controversial topics seldom addressed by formal courses (Chronic Pain Management vs. Prescription Drug Abuse, Balancing Business and Medicine, and Domestic Violence). We utilized preand post-session surveys to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the program. Our results demonstrated significant improvement in participants’ comfort with the subject matter and desire to approach faculty and peers regarding humanistic patient care. Future and more frequent interactions, combined with optimization of the format could further uncover the utility of this program. Ultimately, we believe our discussion series could be replicated on other medical campuses.