The application of heterogeneous cluster grouping to reflective writing for medical humanities literature study to enhance students’ empathy, critical thinking, and reflective writing

Abstract

Background: To facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and to make connections between patients' diseases and their social/cultural contexts, the study examined whether the use of heterogeneous cluster grouping in reflective writing for medical humanities literature acquisition could have positive effects on medical university students in terms of empathy, critical thinking, and reflective writing. Methods: A 15-week quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate the learning outcomes. After conducting cluster algorithms, heterogeneous learning clusters (experimental group; n = 43) and nonheterogeneous learning clusters (control group; n = 43) were derived for a medical humanities literature study. Before and after the intervention, an Empathy Scale in Patient Care (ES-PC), a critical thinking disposition assessment (CTDA-R), and a reflective writing test were administered to both groups. Results: The findings showed that on the empathy scale, significant differences in the "behavioral empathy," "affective empathy," and overall sections existed between the post-test mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group, but such differences did not exist in "intelligent empathy." Regarding critical thinking, there were significant differences in "systematicity and analyticity," "skepticism and well-informed," "maturity and skepticism," and overall sections. As for reflective writing, significant differences existed in "ideas," "voice and point of view," "critical thinking and representation," "depth of reflection on personal growth," and overall sections, but not in "focus and context structure" and "language and conventions." Conclusion: This study outlined an alternative for using heterogeneous cluster grouping in reflective writing about medical humanities literature to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation to provide more humanizing medical care.

Associations of emotional intelligence and gratitude with empathy in medical students

“…Physicians' deficit of empathy can partly be traced back to the medical education they receive [3]. In order to train medical students who are competent to provide high-quality health care service in the future, medical humanity courses and feasible strategies that may enhance empathy should be incorporated into the curriculum [62,63]. Systematic reviews have demonstrated that empathy of medical trainees is amenable to positive change through different formats of interventions [64,65].…”

Facilitation Directions in Studying Humanities by Medical Students

“…Indeed, the course of bioethics implants high deontological principles and basic values as necessary moral foundations of medical practice. Along with bioethics, philosophy develops the ability to think critically and reflective, make informed and reasonable decisions and assess soberly any life and professional situations [21]. Cultural studies, in turn, allows the students to get acquainted with the traditions of different cultures and to realize the need for conflict-free communication based on the principles of empathy, respect, autonomy and freedom of other people.…”

Storytelling in Medical Education: Narrative Medicine as a Resource for Interdisciplinary Collaboration

“…In reference to Liao and Wang's [27] cluster algorithms for heterogeneous and non-heterogeneous cluster grouping, the researchers adapted the algorithms and used the five variables-gender, major, RTS-HSP, P-HCS, and ES-PC-as the variables for interdisciplinary collaboration, based on the following process. First, the researchers collected the pretest scores of the RTS-HSP, P-HCS, and ES-PC, and to avoid different measurement standards at different scale levels, each student's pretest scores of RTS-HSP, P-HCS, and ES-PC were transformed into ratio scores.…”