Medical Humanities Coursework Is Associated with Greater Measured Empathy in Medical Students

Graham, Jeremy; Benson, Lauren M.; Swanson, Judy; Potyk, Darryl; Daratha, Kenn B.; Roberts, Ken

doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.08.005

Cited by 65 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Similar finding was reported by one study from Pune, India and several from the USA. 6,7,11,19 These findings are however, in contrast to some of the other studies from India, Brazil and Europe. 8,9,12,20 This decline in empathy levels as the course progresses could be attributed to an intense theory based education with little or no emphasis on interpersonal aptitudes and the ability to relate to patients.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

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Assessing empathy among undergraduate medical students: a cross sectional analysis using the Jefferson scale in a medical school in Coastal Karnataka

Nair¹,

Shetty²,

Guha³

et al. 2018

Int J Community Med Public Health

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Background: Empathy has been shown to improve the physician’s diagnostic skills as well as enhance the quality of communication with the patient. Empathy being an integral component of patient care, this study was designed to measure empathy levels among undergraduate medical students and to identify the factors associated with it in this population. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out among 437 medical students including interns on the rolls of a medical school in coastal Karnataka. The students were administered a psychometrically validated Jefferson Scale of Empathy–Student Version (JSE-S) questionnaire, to measure various components of empathy. Responses were indicated on a seven point Likert scale and total scores ranged from 20–140, with higher values indicating higher levels of empathy. Results: Mean empathy score among the participants was 100.5±14.8, with significantly higher score being reported by females than males [101.9 vs. 97.3, p=0.002] and by first year students compared to third year students [105.2 vs. 95.3, p<0.01]. Empathy scores showed a declining trend as the students progressed through the medical school (p=0.002). Conclusions: Although the study showed higher empathy level among female medical students, there appeared a declining score among both genders as the years of study progressed with a marginal increase during the internship phase. This necessitates the need for incorporating caregiving as an integral part of the medical school curriculum by stressing on doctor- patient communication skills, which in turn could aid medical students become compassionate physicians.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…6,13,19 Our study however, did not show any difference with regard to preference for a particular speciality. Since most Indian medical schools come under the vigilance of a regulatory body, there is no scope for offering electives, humanities or otherwise, and we were therefore unable to study this effect.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

Assessing empathy among undergraduate medical students: a cross sectional analysis using the Jefferson scale in a medical school in Coastal Karnataka

Nair¹,

Shetty²,

Guha³

et al. 2018

Int J Community Med Public Health

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“…This finding is similar to conclusions of another qualitative study (Jones, Kittendorf and Kumagai, 2017) which saw students who viewed art reflecting on the human dimensions of illness and medical care. Another study examining a variety of medical humanities and arts-based coursework, including visual art, found correlations between this exposure and superior empathy outcomes among medical students (Graham et al, 2016). Yang and Yang (2013), however, found that a 4-hour experience with interpreting paintings did not influence medical students' scores on the JSE.…”

Section: Effects Of Physician Empathy On Patientsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Medical Student Interpretation of Visual Art: Who's Got Empathy?

Sampson¹,

Shapiro²,

Billimek³

et al. 2018

MedEdPublish

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We have provided more information on the construction of the Art Scale. 2) We have elaborated on ideas for future research, specifically calling for interventional research to test whether empathy in medical students (as well as the foundational concepts we've identified of curiosity, connection, nuance, and complexity) can be improved through exposure to art, as well as investigation of potentially relevant variables such as background of instructor, method of instruction, type of art, and variations of setting. 3) We corrected an error in the last name of the third author.

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“…Having healthier, more content patients may be the most important outcome, but surrogate outcome measures, such as higher levels of empathy (Graham et al, 2016) or higher OSCE-scores in communication (Tsai & Ho, 2012), may be needed to make the study feasible. Furthermore, health and happiness are in themselves subjective experiences, which can be evaluated in different ways depending on what is emphasized.…”

Section: Perspectives On Measuring Effects Of Medical Humanities Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Human First’: Teaching close reading and creative writing to medical students

Stewart-Ferrer¹,

Rasmussen²

2019

TFSS

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The University of Southern Denmark has introduced a mandatory course in Narrative Medicine into the curriculum of undergraduate medical students. It is part of a trajectory called ‘Human First’, which aims to improve the students’ empathic abilities by teaching them narrative competencies to draw on in their future clinical encounters as medical doctors. Although, theoretical accounts seem to make a strong case for the utility and value of educational interventions, such as courses in narrative medicine or medical humanities, there has been a lack of empirical studies providing evidence to support such accounts – especially those focusing on the long-term effects and impact on patient care. Our systematic literature search and review of empirical studies regarding the effects of teaching close reading of fictional texts and creative writing to medical and health care students, tentatively confirmed previous indications of positive effects. Larger, multi-site and more rigorous studies that assess the long-term impacts of these educational interventions and adjust for local variations are, however, still in short supply. Finally, we present critical reflections on whether empathy and similar phenomena are at all measurable and discuss the possibility of meaningfully evaluating the utility of curricular interventions such as narrative medicine courses.

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Medical Humanities Coursework Is Associated with Greater Measured Empathy in Medical Students

Cited by 65 publications

References 17 publications

Assessing empathy among undergraduate medical students: a cross sectional analysis using the Jefferson scale in a medical school in Coastal Karnataka

Assessing empathy among undergraduate medical students: a cross sectional analysis using the Jefferson scale in a medical school in Coastal Karnataka

Medical Student Interpretation of Visual Art: Who's Got Empathy?

‘Human First’: Teaching close reading and creative writing to medical students

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