Are there differences in health professionals’ empathy due to academic and clinical experience?

Abstract

Objective: The health professional's empathy has a positive effect on treatment outcomes and the well-being of both patients and professionals. The aim of this research was to assess the empathy levels of first-year medical and psychology students and to compare these levels with those of trained psychologists and physicians. In addition, we also analysed the potential effects of years of professional practice and the average number of patients treated on the empathy of professionals. Method: We evaluated cognitive and emotional empathy through the Interpersonal Reactive Index and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task. Results: The results showed that perspective taking in medical students was lower than that of psychotherapists, and psychotherapists and physicians reported lower levels of personal distress than psychology students. We did not find evidence of general detrimental effects of clinical experience on the capacity to feel sympathy and compassion towards others, but we did find lower empathic concern levels in those professionals with higher workloads. Conclusion: considering that these effects have been seldom studied among psychologists, additional longitudinal research might indicate how empathy is influenced by training over time. On the other hand, since emotional distress can be detrimental to the professional's performance, our results suggest that empathy needs to be promoted and trained, in order to preserve the ability to feel with others without falling into an extreme of emotional distress.

Factors associated with levels of empathy among students and professionals in the health field: a systematic review

“…20 Twenty-one studies had greater participation of female health professionals and/or students. 17,19,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Regarding the age of the interviewees, Petrucci et al 19 reported the lowest mean (X = 21.27 years; standard deviation [SD] = 3.32) and Charles et al 40 reported the highest (X = 55.91 years; SD = 7.68).…”

“…In terms of setting, 10 studies were conducted at hospitals, 19,21,22,30,35,[41][42][43][44][45] 10 were conducted at universities, 18,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]35,39 two were conducted at both hospitals and universities, 32,38 and the remainder used online surveys. 17,20,31,34,36,37,40 Regarding study design, two types of design were identified among the articles selected: cross-sectional and longitudinal.…”

“…17,20,31,34,36,37,40 Regarding study design, two types of design were identified among the articles selected: cross-sectional and longitudinal. Most (n = 27) were cross-sectional studies 17,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] and only two were longitudinal studies. 18,32 The professionals and students were from the following health fields: nursing, medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, pharmacy, social services, midwifery, health science, paramedicine, dentistry, speech therapy, and others.…”

“…18,32 The professionals and students were from the following health fields: nursing, medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, pharmacy, social services, midwifery, health science, paramedicine, dentistry, speech therapy, and others. The most prevalent field was medicine, [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][28][29][30]33,36,38,45 followed by nursing, 19,[21][22][23][24]29,30,35,36,45 and psychology. 21,22,24,37,41 Eleven studies involved participation of students, 18,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]33,39,42 17,[20][21][22][29][30][31]…”

“…21,22,24,37,41 Eleven studies involved participation of students, 18,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]33,39,42 17,[20][21][22][29][30][31]34,35,37,40,41,[43][44][45] and two were conducted with both professionals and students. 32,38…”