The association between empathy and artistic practice: a cross-sectional study with medical students

Empathy is essential to medical practice, and efforts to cultivate it often include incorporating liberal arts into medical curricula to promote it. However, the association between empathy and engagement in artistic practice beyond the medical curricula remains unclear. This study aims to assess the association between medical students´ empathy and their engagement in artistic activities.

Students enrolled at 11 Portuguese medical schools were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey included questions about their artistic practice, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to measure empathy.

A total of 450 medical students completed the survey. 158 students (35%) were actively engaged in the arts, 118 of which practiced music (75%). Participants involved in artistic activities demonstrated significantly higher scores in the Fantasy subscale compared to their peers. Participants engaged in multiple artistic activities scored significantly higher in overall IRI, as well as in Empathic Concern and Fantasy subscales, compared to those practicing only one artistic activity. Participants who began their artistic practice earlier tended to achieve higher scores in overall IRI and on the Empathic Concern subscale.

The present study highlights a significant positive association between artistic practice and empathy levels among medical students. Further research is recommended to clarify this association, potentially informing revisions to medical school curricula.