Enhancing Empathy in Medical Students by Focused Learner Centered Activities.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology

Background:

• Medical student empathy is crucial for patient care.
• Empathy levels can fluctuate during medical training.
• Targeted interventions may influence empathy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess changes in medical student empathy throughout their professional years and internship.
• To evaluate the impact of specific empathy-enhancing activities on these changes.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study was conducted at Shifa College of Medicine from 2015 to 2019.
• The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was administered annually to the graduating class of 2019.
• Interventions included a third-year patient-centered module and final-year stress management workshops.

Main Results:

• Empathy scores increased from the first year (4.27 ±0.38) to the third year (4.52 ±0.70).
• Scores slightly decreased in the fourth and fifth years (4.25 ±0.62 & 4.21 ±0.40) before rising during internship (4.39 ±0.43).
• The increase during internship coincided with focused empathy-enhancing activities.

Conclusions:

• A patient-centered module and stress management workshops may contribute to enhanced empathy in medical students.
• Implementing consistent, formal empathy-building activities across all clinical years is recommended.
• Sustained focus on empathy development is vital for medical training.