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

A Systematic Review of Educational Interventions and Their Impact on Empathy and Compassion of Undergraduate Medical Students

“…The leading constructs used in education interventions that showed positive impact on empathy and compassion of medical students in our study include communication skills, mindfulness, early clinical exposure, technology-enhanced learning, and humanities. A maximum of 10 studies used communication skills (53,54,56,57,60,62,63,66,71,72), followed by mindfulness by 5 studies (54,59,64,71), early clinical exposure by four (23,51,55,65), technology-enhanced learning by virtual patient hangouts, computerized tasks, hot spotting by another four (52,58,60,69), and comics (70), and arts and culture (61). ) used a combination of tools to probe the impact of their interventions on behaviors and attitudes of medical students toward empathy and/or compassion and to determine the impact of self-compassion on behavior change.…”

“…Most curricula (20/24, 83.3%) used multiple educational modalities and 90% of studies turned out to be effective in achieving their primary outcomes ( Table 4 ). A variety of teaching modalities were employed; didactics ( 53 , 59 , 61 , 62 , 64 , 66 , 70 , 71 , 73 ), small-group discussions ( 56 – 58 , 61 , 63 , 66 – 68 ), reflection exercises ( 23 , 56 , 58 , 66 , 70 ) and simulations. ( 53 , 57 , 59 , 62 , 66 , 68 , 72 ) Likewise, virtual hangouts and technology-enhanced interventions ( 52 , 58 , 60 , 69 ) were also significantly effective.…”

“…A variety of teaching modalities were employed; didactics ( 53 , 59 , 61 , 62 , 64 , 66 , 70 , 71 , 73 ), small-group discussions ( 56 – 58 , 61 , 63 , 66 – 68 ), reflection exercises ( 23 , 56 , 58 , 66 , 70 ) and simulations. ( 53 , 57 , 59 , 62 , 66 , 68 , 72 ) Likewise, virtual hangouts and technology-enhanced interventions ( 52 , 58 , 60 , 69 ) were also significantly effective. A great majority of studies were conducted in multiple sessions within one academic year.…”

“…According to the four-level outcome-based Kirkpatrick model, 14/24 (58.3%) studies had a primary outcome pitching on level one; self-reported changes in attitudes and behavior ( 23 , 53 – 56 , 58 , 61 , 62 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 70 , 71 , 73 ). Two (4.8%) studies evaluated level three outcome (behavior), while six (25%) studies evaluated level four (patient outcomes) either by standardized or simulated patients or by a third party observation ( 51 , 57 , 60 , 63 , 66 , 72 ).…”

Data_Sheet_1.docx

“…used a combination of tools to probe the impact of their interventions on behaviors and attitudes of medical students toward empathy and/or compassion and to determine the impact of self-compassion on behavior change. (59) Only three studies looked for the long-term effects of educational interventions (53,62,71).…”