Can teaching serious illness communication skills foster multidimensional empathy? A mixed-methods study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Empathy in Healthcare

Background:

• Investigating the impact of communication skills training on medical students' empathy.
• Assessing changes in attitudes, self-efficacy, and learning dimensions of empathy.
• Focus on serious illness communication for enhanced patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a Serious Illness Communication Skills Training (SI-CST) course.
• To measure the impact on medical students' empathic attitudes and self-efficacy.
• To explore learning across cognitive, behavioral, and moral dimensions of empathy.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods design utilizing a blended learning SI-CST course for sixth-year medical students (n=185).
• Quantitative assessment using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and self-rated preparedness at baseline, 6 weeks, and 3-6 months post-training.
• Qualitative analysis of written reflections on key lessons learned through inductive thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• Significant improvement in total JSE scores from baseline to 6 weeks and 3-6 months post-training (P=.01).
• Increased 'Standing in Patient's Shoes' empathy (ES=0.56); no significant change in 'Perspective-Taking' or 'Compassionate Care'.
• Marked improvement in self-rated preparedness for empathic communication tasks (P ≤ .001) with large effect sizes (1.09-1.41).

Conclusions:

• The SI-CST course effectively enhanced medical students' empathic attitudes and self-efficacy in communication.
• Qualitative findings highlighted learning in cognitive, behavioral, and moral dimensions of empathy.
• The training supports the development of crucial communication skills for serious illness encounters.