Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the effect of clinical training on the empathy levels of undergraduate and postgraduate dental students. Materials and Method: Two hundred and seventy-six students (undergraduates from third, fourth and fifth-grade, and postgraduates from different departments) completed the student version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy questionnaire. Total and three subscale (perspective taking, compassionate care, ability to stand in patients’ shoes) scores were evaluated. The reliability of the scale was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.77). Independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis (p<0.05). Results: The fourth-grade students had the highest mean total empathy score (106.0±13.1) and a statistically significant difference was observed between this group and postgraduate students (98.6±14.2). The mean “compassionate care” subscale score revealed a significant decline for postgraduate students (36.2±7.6) when compared to fourth-grade students (39.9±6.6). The total empathy mean score and “compassionate care” subscale mean score were higher for females (104.2±13.6, 39.6±7.1, respectively) than males (99.7±1, 37.1±7.8, respectively). Regardless of degree of dental education, participants with a sibling had higher mean scores for “standing in patient’s shoes” subscale (p<0.05). Conclusion: The empathy levels of postgraduate students declined with continuing education and this may be due to increased clinical responsibilities and professional attitudes.
Highlights
Patient-centred approaches are becoming more important in healthcare services and high levels of empathic behavior are one of the cornerstones of this field.[1]
The mean “compassionate care” subscale score revealed a significant decline for postgraduate students (36.2±7.6) when compared to fourth-grade students (39.9±6.6)
The total empathy mean score and “compassionate care” subscale mean score were higher for females (104.2±13.6, 39.6±7.1, respectively) than males (99.7±1, 37.1±7.8, respectively)
Summary
Patient-centred approaches are becoming more important in healthcare services and high levels of empathic behavior are one of the cornerstones of this field.[1] Empathy can be described as a cognitive and behavioral attribute that concerns the ability of healthcare providers to understand how patients’ experiences and feelings are influenced by the disease or its symptoms, and to develop a way of communication in this regards.[2] The level of empathy may depend on the personal characteristics of individuals, but it is important to consider empathic thinking during healthcare education in order to graduate clinicians who can understand their patients’ expectations. Dental education includes theoretical courses followed by clinical trainings. Dentistry students face with patients beginning from the undergraduate years till the end of postgraduate education and they take more responsibility as they get experienced. Empathy within the context of dental education has been studied in literature previously in order to evaluate the impact of clinical training. Differences were explained by factors such as gender, age, different curriculums or cultural backgrounds of students.[3,4,5,6,7]
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