Empathy Levels Of Medical Students Research Articles

Empathy Levels in Medical Students as they Advance through their Years of Education

Background: At Nishtar Medical University, medical students' empathy levels across different years of medical education were compared to identify and present any differences in empathy levels between the medical students of other years. Methods: Using cross-sectional analysis stratified random sampling technique, this study compared empathy among Nishtar Medical University medical students in the first, third, final, and internship years. MBBS 2nd and 4th-year students in Nishtar Medical University, Multan, are excluded from the study. A Google Form questionnaire was shared with the students to compare their empathy levels in various years of medical education. The sample size is 288. Results: Empathy scores decreased over time, with first-year students scoring the highest (84.09 ± 3.68) and third-year students scoring 75.06 ± 3.71. The 5th year had a somewhat lower empathy score of 74.63 ± 3.82, followed by a considerable reduction in average scores to 64.15 ± 0.84 during the internship year. Conclusion: A definitive cross-sectional study at Nishtar Medical University has conclusively addressed the inquiry of comparing empathy levels across the different years of medical education. The results unequivocally show a decline in empathy during undergraduate medical training.

Impact of Multimodal Intervention on Empathy Levels in Medical Students: A Questionnaire-Based Study.

Background Empathy is essential for effective doctor-patient communication. It enables doctors to understand patients' emotions and concerns, facilitating personalized care and support. Empathy can be cultivated through various methods and training programs. Objective The study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multimodal intervention involving interactive lectures, peer role-play, and guided reflection in enhancing empathy levels among second-year medical undergraduate students in India. Methods This study utilized a questionnaire-based, pre- and post-test interventional design. Seventy-nine second-year medical students were included after obtaining their informed consent. The students received the intervention through an interactive lecture on communication skills, role-play on selected case studies, and guided reflection. The empathy levels were assessed using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) before and after the intervention. The Mann-Whitney U test was utilized to compare pre-test and post-test TEQ scores. A univariate analysis of variance was conducted to explore the relationship between demographic variables and post-test TEQ scores. Statistical significance was considered at p ≤ 0.05. Results The TEQ score improved significantly (p=0.009) after the intervention. The univariate analysis indicated that gender, style of education, and place of residence did not have a statistically significant impact on post-test scores. Conclusion The study demonstrates that a multimodal intervention significantly enhances the empathy level of medical students, highlighting the potential of focused interventions to reduce gender disparities in empathy levels. There were no significant differences in empathy scores based on gender, place of residence, or schooling, suggesting the intervention's benefits may apply to all medical students.

Using Visual Arts Education and Reflective Practice to Increase Empathy and Perspective Taking in Medical Students.

Empathy is a critical competency for health care providers. However, empathy levels in medical students and residents have been shown to paradoxically decrease during training. Arts and humanities education and reflective practice may reduce burnout and promote empathy during medical school. We developed and implemented an art education elective for medical students focusing on observation and reflective practice and measured its impact on empathy. Between 2017 and 2022, first-year medical students were offered an annual, 4-week elective led by art educators that featured visualization exercises and discussions on the role of bias and perspective in art interpretation. Curriculum effectiveness and impact on empathy were measured using the validated Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and self-assessments. One hundred twenty-eight students participated in the elective over a 5-year period; 89 (70%) completed assessments. Students reported improvements in empathic communication, recognition of bias, and observation skills. IRI data demonstrated a significant increase in perspective taking (19.0 vs. 20.2; p < .0125). Participation in the elective was associated with self-reported improvements in visual observation, awareness of bias, and empathetic communication. IRI results showed that participants also demonstrated improved perspective taking. Since perspective taking is a cognitive component of empathy, we have provided some empirical evidence that arts education in medical school can promote empathic attitudes and skills.

Can storytelling of women’s lived experience enhance empathy in medical students? A pilot intervention study

Purpose This pilot study aimed to investigate the acceptability and efficacy of a patient storytelling intervention (live and recorded) on empathy levels of medical students. Materials and methods Medical students participated in a storytelling intervention that had three components: listening to live or recorded stories from women with abnormal uterine bleeding, reflective writing, and a debriefing session. Empathy scores of students pre- and post-intervention were measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-student version (JSE-S). Students also completed a feedback survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data and content analysis was used for text comments. Results Both live and recorded storytelling interventions had positive effects on student’s empathy scores post intervention. Overall, students were satisfied with the intervention and reported that it improved their understanding of life experiences of women. Suggestions were made for an in-person storytelling session and interactive discussion after listening to each story. Conclusion A storytelling intervention has the potential to improve medical students’ empathy and understanding of lived experience of women with health conditions. This could be valuable when student-patient interactions are limited in healthcare settings, or to enable stories of small numbers of patient volunteers to reach students.

Empathy Levels in Medical Students: A Single Center Study.

Objectives To determine the level of empathy in medical students and to determine the difference in empathy levels between the two genders in a single center. Materials & methods This qualitative study was conducted at a medical college in Peshawar from March 2021 to July 2021. Institutional ethical committee approval was taken (RMI/RMI-REC/Approval/83) before commencing the study. All students admitted into the medical college in the current academic year 2020 to 2021 were included in the study. Any students that did not fill out the questionnaire completely were excluded. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was used in this study. The questionnaire was uploaded on google forms for data collection. All the resulting scores were entered into IBM SPSS version 23.0. The mean TEQ score was calculated. Box and whisker plots were made for respective years. An Independent sample t-test was used to determine the association between mean TEQ scores and gender. Results Of 367 students, 347 (94.6%) participated in this study, with a slight female predominance (53%). The mean age of the students was 21.44 (SD = 1.751) years. The participation rate was≥70% from each class. Most participants across the years have an above-average empathy score (49.9%). Among the participants, the year I (67.6%) showed most participants with high empathy. Year IV (40.6%) has the highest proportion of below-average empathy scores. The mean empathy score of female students was 49.08 (S.D = 7.588), while the empathy score for male students was 44.59 (S.D = 7.58). Conclusion Empathy levels decline as medical education is progressed through the years. Females show a greater sense of empathy than their male counterparts. A slight increase in empathy levels is seen in the final year of medical school after a decline over the initial years.

Empathy levels among undergraduate students of health sciences

Aims: To determine empathy levels of medical students of Rawal institute of Health Sciences using Jefferson scale of physician empathy and to establish the relationship between empathy scores and year of study and gender Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2022 to July 2022, at Rawal Institute of Health Sciences. Jefferson Scale of Empathy Health Profession Students' version was distributed among 230 students of all five years of MBBS. Results: The results showed that 67.8% (n=156/230) had good empathy score, 20.9% (n=48/230) had excellent score and 11.3% (n=26/230) had average quality empathy score. The relation between year of study and empathy score was significant (p=0.003) with 3rd year students having excellent empathy scores as compared to the rest of the years and 5th year having more students with average empathy as compared to the rest of the years. The relation between gender and empathy scores was not significant (p=0.302). Conclusion: Professional empathy among medical students is associated with increased satisfaction with their education, lower levels of stress and burn out and higher ratings of overall clinical competence. Private medical students have good scores of empathies.

Enhancing Empathy in Medical Students by Focused Learner Centered Activities

To determine the change in empathy levels of medical students during their progress in professional years internship, and to examine change in empathy after targeted empathy enhancing activities during the course of medical school. Longitudinal Study. Shifa College of Medicine/ Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, from January 2015 to December 2019. Student version of Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy was administered sequentially from 2015 to 2019 which evaluated the change in empathy of medical students in a class of 2019. Targeted empathy-enhancing activities included patient-centered module in year-three and stress management workshops in the final year of medical school. Empathy scores rose from the first year of study (4.27 ±0.38) to the third year (4.52 ±0.70). It fell over the next two years of study (4.25 ±0.62 & 4.21 ±0.40) before rising again during the internship (4.39 ±0.43) with focused empathy-enhancing activities. Patient-centered module which focused on activities that help develop empathy may have been a factor in the increase of empathy scores in the third year and internship. Placing recurring formal activities throughout all clinical years may help in enhancing empathy in medical students. Medical student empathy, Empathy enhancing targeted activities, JSPE.

Can Distance Communication Skills Training Increase the Empathy Levels in Medical Students? An Application During the Pandemic Period

Background and Purpose: The aim is to determine the effect of the communication skills training (CST) using interactive synchronous and asynchronous methods, which was applied for the first time on medical students’ empathy levels.&#x0D; Methods: This study is a cross-sectional-analytical, self-controlled intervention. &#x0D; The distance CST program was applied to first-year medical students. The change in students’ empathy levels was measured with the student version of the Jefferson Empathy Scale.&#x0D; Results: 241 students’ forms were included. Empathy mean score increased significantly, this increase was higher in women.&#x0D; Conclusion: The distance CST produced a positive effect on empathy levels. While interactive&#x0D; PowerPoint® presentations, videos, movie clips, cartoons, real-life examples, written/audio question-&#x0D; answer activities, surveys, feedback and, small group work were used in live lessons; in the&#x0D; asynchronous process, student-based techniques (self-assessment, homework, WhatsApp® sharing)&#x0D; were used to support the online learning climate. We believe that all of them support the cognitive and&#x0D; social existence of students throughout the training. We propose our program as a model that can be&#x0D; used during situations where face-to-face education is not possible and to support face-to-face&#x0D; education in medical education.

Empathy Assessment Scale.

OBJECTIVEEmpathy is a prosocial ability and communication skill to feel, understand, and respond to emotions of others; it includes affective and cognitive behavioral aspects of therapeutic communication. For instance, physicians should communicate empathically with their patients. Thus, empathy levels of medical students should be improved during their education. It is important to comparatively evaluate the dimensions of empathy to have a clearer picture of this ability. The aim of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the Empathy Assessment Scale (EAS) and its subscales.METHODSData were collected between October and December in 2021 from 651 students studying medicine in Istanbul Medeniyet University. Item pool of the scale was developed by the researcher based on the literature review. Two counseling psychologists, two clinical psychologist, and two psychiatrists evaluated the items to detect the face and content validity in the final application form. Both explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) were carried out. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire was also applied for concurrent validity. IBM SPSS 25 and AMOS 24 were utilized to analyze the construct and concurrent validities, internal consistency, and test-retest reliabilities.RESULTSKMO and Bartlett’s sphericity tests showed that the dataset was suitable for factor analyses (KMO=0.812, Chi-square=5535.718, df=78). A three-factor structure with 13 items was confirmed by EFA, 67.1% of the variance was explained by these three factors. According to CFA, the factor loads of the items varied between 0.39 and 0.98 and data model fit was suitable according to the fit indices (CFI=0.95, TLI=0.91, RMSEA=0.049, SRMR=0.055, and Chi-square/df=1.316). Concurrent validity of the scale was also confirmed by the Pearson correlation (r=0.467, p<0.001). The test-retest reliability values (r) within four weeks interval were all above 0.60 at 0.01 significance level. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.845 (EAS total scale score, 13 items), 0.696 (social interaction subscale score, 4 items), 0.802 (cognitive behavior subscale score, 5 items), and 0.964 (emotional identification subscale score, 4 items).CONCLUSIONEAS is a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess the empathy levels of individuals in three dimensions: Social interaction, cognitive behavior, and emotional identification. EAS can be used to evaluate the empathy levels for research, educational, and other interventional purposes.

Medical Students' Empathy Level Differences by Medical Year, Gender, and Specialty Interest in Akdeniz University.

Background:As an important feature in patient-physician communication for both primary and clinical care, empathy is one of the basic competencies that physicians should possess. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the level of empathy among medical students in all years of medical training using two different instruments: the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (for clinical empathy level) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (for general empathy level).Materials and Methods:This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in 2017-2018 academic year with students studying at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine. Data collection form, Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was applied to the students by the researchers. The statistical analysis was carried out by using IBM-SPSS version 23 for Mac OS. T-test, ANOVA test, Spearman and Pearson correlation analysis were used for comparisons.Results:The mean TEQ score of the students was 52.8/65 and the JSPE-S score was 80.3/100. TEQ scores of students increased up to 4th year and then decreased, but the difference between the years was not statistically significant. The third year students’ JSPE-S scores were significantly higher than that of the sixth year students.Conclusion:While the clinical empathy levels of medical students decreased significantly after 3rd year, the general empathy levels decreased less. This result shows us that we should review our medical education curriculum and educational environment, and should initiate initiatives, and devote more time to empathy education in order to prevent the decrease in empathy level and increase empathy during medical education.

Effect of a Single-Session Communication Skills Training on Empathy in Medical Students.

Empathy scores have been found to decline over the years spent in medical school. The authors aimed to evaluate the change in empathy levels in medical students following a single-session communication skills training. Eighty-two second-year medical students were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention comprised of a single-session empathetic communication skills training using PowerPoint, video clips, and roleplay. Empathy was assessed using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student version (JSE) at baseline, post-intervention (for the intervention group), and at follow up after 3weeks. The mean JSE score of the intervention group was 109.7 ± 11.8 at baseline, with significant improvement post-intervention (114.2 ± 10.6, p = 0.014). However, the score declined at the 3-week follow-up (106.8 ± 11.8). The mean baseline JSE score of the control group was 107.5 ± 12.4, with a decline at follow-up (101.8 ± 16.0). Though both groups showed a decline in the JSE score at follow-up, the decline was significant only for the control group (p = 0.020), which did not receive the training. The study showed significant improvement immediately, and lower decline at follow-up, in empathy levels following a communication skills training. The findings suggest a need to incorporate a regular training program into the existing medical curriculum, to enhance empathy and prevent its decline over the years.

The relationship between empathy and stress: a cross-sectional study among undergraduate medical students.

PurposeEmpathy is critical for medical doctors, as it enables them to conduct good patient-centred care. Medical students are expected to learn this ability as part of their education and training.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional design, the present study was conducted to identify whether the empathy levels of medical students are affected by their stress levels. A translated version of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 was used to measure the students’ stress levels, while the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy was used to measure their empathy levels.ResultsA total of 464 students from one medical school in Indonesia participated in the study. Stress levels among medical students peak in their first year of study and maintain a downward trend over the following years. The students’ empathy levels increased during their first 3 years, declined significantly upon entering the first clinical year, and increased during the second clinical year. However, no correlations were found between stress level and empathy level.ConclusionThese findings suggest that there may be other underlying factors that contribute to empathy decline among medical students upon entering their first clinical year. Further research should be conducted to identify these factors. The bounced-back of empathy level to a higher level in the second year highlights the importance of student adaptation in the clinical learning environment and the support system.

Empathy levels among medical students in a military medical university and the influencing factors

Objective To investigate the empathy levels of medical students in a military medical university and explore the influencing factors. Methods Self-developed demographic information questionnaire, Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSPE-S), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS) were used to collect data from June to October 2016. Medical undergraduate students were conveniently enrolled in the survey. SPSS 17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. T test, ANOVA, and chi-square test or Fisher exact test were used to compare the data of different categories of students. Results A total of 683 questionnaires were distributed and 594 valid questionnaires were returned, with a valid response rate of 86.97%. Students had an above-average level of medical empathy with JSPE-S score as (104.11±19.66), and IRI score was (51.63±10.08). There was a statically difference on level of medical empathy between groups of students with different genders, specialties, professional satisfaction, future career desire, and relative courses learning experience (P<0.05 for all). Medical empathy was significantly negatively correlated with perceived stress (r=-0.392, P=0.000) and significantly positively correlated with perceived stress (r=0.298, P=0.000). Conclusion Targeted strategies should be conducted to improve the empathy levels of students in the military medical university. Key words: Military university; Medical students; Medical empathy; General empathy; Perceived stress

Empathy and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine: Is It All in the Hands?

The osteopathic medical school curriculum is unique because of the inclusion of training in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Interest in and use of OMM promotes cognitive training in diagnosing conditions, emotional training in the alleviation of pain, and physical training in the application of OMM. Osteopathic manipulative medicine may mitigate a reduction in empathy levels of medical students and explain why osteopathic medical students do not follow the declining pattern of empathy previously reported in allopathic medical students. To examine whether favorable opinions of OMM are positively correlated with overall student empathy as well as the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral subcomponents of empathy. Institutional review board approval was obtained to measure empathy in medical students attending the Midwestern University/Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine for this cross-sectional study. The 20-item Jefferson Scale of Empathy medical student version (JSE-S) was distributed via email to first-year students at the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year and at the end of the academic year to all students. Items were divided into cognitive, emotional, and behavioral categories. Items related to demographics, interest and use of OMM and the osteopathic philosophy, frequency of touch, and personality were also included in the survey. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and presented as mean (SEM). Statistical significance was set at P<.05. Of the 801 students the survey was sent to at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, 598 students completed the survey, for a response rate of 75%. When accounting for the effect of gender with a multivariate analysis of covariance, there were no differences in empathy scores across school years. When empathy scores from first- and second-year students were combined and compared with combined third- and fourth-year students' scores to examine the difference between empathy in students during academic and clinical training, a difference in the mean (SEM) JSE-S empathy score was noted (114.6 [0.7] and 112.0 [0.7], respectively; P=.01); however, the effect size was small (partial η2=0.01). Interest in OMM and the osteopathic philosophy were significantly associated with higher empathy scores (P<.05; medium effect; partial η2=0.08). Interest in and use of OMM are associated with higher empathy scores and empathy subcomponents. Training and use of OMM should be examined as a mechanism contributing to the durability of empathy in the osteopathic medical profession.

Differences in Empathy Levels of Medical Students Based on Gender, Year of Medical School and Career Choice.

To measure mean empathy scores of Pakistani medical students and to explore any association of empathy scores with gender, medical school year and future career choice. Cross-sectional survey. Shifa College of Medicine, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, during the academic year 2015-2016. The student version of Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was distributed to the students electronically via the student portal. Response that were completed in full were included in the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse student demographic data. The student score on the JSPE was reported as the mean (out of 7) of each item. Independent samples t-test was employed to check the significant differences between genders. Empathy score with advancing year of study was investigated using ANOVA. ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey's test was used to study the relationship between career choice and empathy score. The response rate was 70.94%. The mean score was 4.51 ±0.69. Females obtained greater, but statistically insignificant (p=0.08) empathy score (4.58) as compared to the male students (4.45). No statistically significant difference was seen between scores on the survey across the five academic years (F=0.88, p=0.47). Students who selected medicine and allied as career choice showed a significantly higher empathy score than those who opted for surgery. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.78. There were low levels of empathy in Pakistani medical students. Students with interest in medicine and allied showed higher empathy scores compared to surgical or technical specialties. No association of empathy scores with gender and medical school year was observed.

Maintaining empathy in medical school: It is possible

Background: Empathy is an indispensable skill in medicine and is an integral part of ‘professionalism’. Yet, there is still increasing concern among medical educators and medical professionals regarding the decline in medical students’ empathy during medical education.Aims: This article aims at comparing the levels of empathy in medical school students across the different years of undergraduate medical education. It also aims at examining differences in empathy in relation to gender, year of study, cultural and religious backgrounds, previous tertiary education and certain programmes within the curriculum.Method: The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Student version (JSPE-S) was employed to measure empathy levels in medical students (years one to five) in a cross-sectional study. Attached to the scale was a survey containing questions on demographics, stage of medical education, previous education, and level of completion of particular programmes that aim at promoting personal and professional development (PPD).Results: Four hundred and four students participated in the study. The scores of the JSPE-S ranged from 34 to 135 with a mean score of 109.07 ± 14.937. Female medical students had significantly higher empathy scores than male medical students (111 vs. 106, p < 0.001) across all five years of the medical course. There was no significant difference in the total empathy scores in relation to year of medical education. Yet, the highest means were scored by year five students who had completed personal and professional development courses.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there is a gender difference in the levels of empathy, favouring female medical students. They also suggest that, despite prior evidence of a decline, empathy may be preserved in medical school by careful student selection and/or personal and professional development courses.

A preliminary study of empathy, emotional intelligence and examination performance in MBChB students

There is considerable interest in the attributes other than cognitive ability that medical students need in order to be professionally successful, with a particular focus on empathy and emotional intelligence (EI). Selection considerations have also motivated interest in such attributes as predictors of academic success. There are reports of declines in empathy in US medical students, but no comparative information is available for UK students. This study aimed to compare empathy levels in medical students in Years 2, 3 (pre-clinical) and 5 (clinical), to examine gender differences in empathy and EI, and to investigate whether EI and empathy are related to academic success. Questionnaires assessing EI and empathy were completed by students. Previous empathy scores for the Year 2 cohort were also available. Empathy trends were examined using anova; trends for the Year 2 group for whom Year 1 scores were available were examined using repeated-measures anova. Associations of EI and empathy with academic success were examined using Pearson correlation. A significant gender x cohort effect was found, with male empathy scores increasing between Years 1 and 2, whilst female scores declined. Peer ratings in Year 2 problem-based learning (PBL) groups were positively correlated with EI. Trends in levels of empathy differed by gender. The reasons for this require further investigation, particularly in relation to course content. Associations between academic performance and EI were sparse, and there were none between academic performance and empathy, but the effects of EI (and other characteristics) on PBL group functioning represent a promising area for future study.

The role of a cinema seminar in psychiatric education.

As the goals of psychiatric education are evaluated and innovative teaching methods are sought, the current cinema represents an untapped resource. Thoughtful viewing of contemporary films with serious discussion of them in a film discussion group as part of the residency training program is a useful and enjoyable teaching format that helps bridge the gap between the art and science of psychiatry.