Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Hojat, Mohammadreza; Gonnella, Joseph S.; Nasca, Thomas J.; Mangione, Salvatore; Vergare, Michael J.; Magee, Michael

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.9.1563

Cited by 1,029 publications

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“…8,20,21 The empathy scores at the entry point of medical school is much less than those found in US by Chen et al (115.5), Hojat et al (114.5) but similar to that from Iran (110.3). 8,11,14 The curriculum in this college is different in many respects from medical schools in US, Japan and Iran. The students are exposed to clinical rotation from second year onwards (third semester).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Ten of the items are negative statements and marked in the reverse order. 14 The JSPE student's version's validity and reliability has been well demonstrated, the Cronbach's-alpha internal consistency estimate for the 20 items on the JSPE was 0.76. 17 This scale had been widely used throughout the world to measure empathy among medical, paramedical resident, practicing doctors as well as medical students, however in India till date no such study has been done on medical students.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…8,14 It is during this semester that students have examination for preventive and social medicine, otorhinolaryngology (non-people oriented subjects) and ophthalmology (people oriented) therefore probably are more inclined towards these subjects, which may be an explanation for the change. Katoaka et al have in their study argued that different entrance methods in medical schools and different cultures across various countries may account for variation in empathy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effect of specialization on empathy was assessed by grouping the choice of subjects of students into technologically oriented (Pathology, Surgery and surgical subspecialties, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Anesthesiology, Preventive and Social Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology); people oriented (Internal medicine, Family medicine, Pediatrics, Neurology, Rehabilitation medicine, Psychiatry, Emergency medicine, Obstetrics and gynecology, Ophthalmology & Dermatology) as done by Hojat et al 14 Those who chose any other subject or were undecided were classified as others.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 The curriculum in India differs from western countries in that clinical rotation starts from second year itself and from Korea and Japan in that there is no humanities content in the curriculum. 12,13 Studies have shown that medical students who plan to pursue people oriented specializations such as internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry and pediatrics showed higher empathetic scores and across all years of study in medical school than those who choose to pursue technology oriented specialties such as radiology, surgery and anesthesiology 8,14 . These changes were reported more among male students and those selecting noncore subject such as other than internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cross sectional assessment of empathy among undergraduates from a medical college

Shashikumar

Chaudhary

Ryali³

et al. 2014

Medical Journal Armed Forces India

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Undergraduate medical studentsChoice of specialty a b s t r a c t Background: Empathy is essentially a desirable quality among clinicians and can be developed during medical education. Studies from outside India have shown that higher empathy is related to better competency and choice of specialty may be related to empathy levels in them. Change in empathy levels among undergraduate medical students with progressive training has been often ascribed to reasons such as curriculum content, timing of clinical rotations. Gender differences in empathy levels also vary among different countries. Since many of such factors differ in India there is a need therefore to understand empathy and its correlates among medical students in India.Method: A cross sectional study was undertaken in a large medical college among the undergraduates of first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth semesters to measure their empathy levels. The evaluation was done using the Jefferson's Scale for Physician's Empathy-Student version.Results: The study revealed highest empathy at entry level and a significant fall by seventh semester (p ¼ 0.002). Female students had significantly higher empathy levels than male students (p ¼ 0.012) across all semesters. The variance in empathy scores according specialty chosen is not statistically significant (p ¼ 0.2468). Conclusion:The progressive decline in empathy levels with years in medical college here is seen much later than in western studies. Female students are more empathetic than male students. The relation of mean empathy scores and choice of specialty is inconclusive and at variance from other studies.ª 2014, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS). All rights reserved.* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 9657167900 (mobile). E-mail address: sribuj@yahoo.com (R. Shashikumar).Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: w ww.el sevier.com/locate/mjafi m e d i c a l j o u r n a l a r m e d f o r c e s i n d i a 7 0 ( 2 0 1 4 ) 1 7 9 e1 8 5

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cross sectional assessment of empathy among undergraduates from a medical college

Shashikumar

Chaudhary

Ryali³

et al. 2014

Medical Journal Armed Forces India

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How Should Shared Decision Making Be Taught?

Tran

Angelos

2020

AMA Journal of Ethics

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As the field of medicine shifts from a paternalistic to a more patientcentered orientation, the dynamics of shared decision making become increasingly complicated. International globalization and national socioeconomic differences have added unintended difficulties to culturally sensitive communication between physician and patient, which can contribute to the growing erosion of clinician empathy. This article offers a strategy for teaching students how to enter into conversations about shared decision making by bolstering their empathy as a result of exposing them to the many variables outside of their patients' control. Patients' historical and cultural context, gender identity, sexual orientation, and common assumptions about clinicians as well as institutional biases can severely limit students' ability to integrate patients' value-laden preferences into shared decision making about health care.

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Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication With Burnout, Empathy, and Attitudes Among Primary Care Physicians

Krasner

Epstein

Beckman

et al. 2009

JAMA

1,335

995

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RIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS REport alarming levels of professional and personal distress. Up to 60% of practicing physicians report symptoms of burnout, 1-4 defined as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (treating patients as objects), and low sense of accomplishment. Physician burnout has been linked to poorer quality of care, including patient dissatisfaction, increased medical errors, and lawsuits and decreased ability to express empathy. 2,[5][6][7] Substance abuse, automobile accidents, stress-related health problems, and marital and family discord are among the personal consequences reported. 4,[8][9][10] Burnout can occur early in the medical educational process. Nearly half of all third-year medical students report burnout 2,11 and there are strong associations between medical student burnout and suicidal ideation. 12 The consequences of burnout among practicing physicians include not only poorer quality of life and lower quality of care but also a decline in the sta-For editorial comment see p 1338. CME available online at www.jamaarchivescme.com and questions on p 1374.Context Primary care physicians report high levels of distress, which is linked to burnout, attrition, and poorer quality of care. Programs to reduce burnout before it results in impairment are rare; data on these programs are scarce.Objective To determine whether an intensive educational program in mindfulness, communication, and self-awareness is associated with improvement in primary care physicians' well-being, psychological distress, burnout, and capacity for relating to patients. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsBefore-and-after study of 70 primary care physicians in Rochester, New York, in a continuing medical education (CME) course in 2007-2008. The course included mindfulness meditation, self-awareness exercises, narratives about meaningful clinical experiences, appreciative interviews, didactic material, and discussion. An 8-week intensive phase (2.5 h/wk, 7-hour retreat) was followed by a 10-month maintenance phase (2.5 h/mo). Main Outcome MeasuresMindfulness (2 subscales), burnout (3 subscales), empathy (3 subscales), psychosocial orientation, personality (5 factors), and mood (6 subscales) measured at baseline and at 2, 12, and 15 months. Results Over the course of the program and follow-up, participants demonstrated improvements in mindfulness (raw score, 45.2 to 54.1; raw score change [⌬], 8.

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Physician Empathy: Definition, Components, Measurement, and Relationship to Gender and Specialty

Cited by 1,029 publications

References 44 publications

Cross sectional assessment of empathy among undergraduates from a medical college

Cross sectional assessment of empathy among undergraduates from a medical college

How Should Shared Decision Making Be Taught?

Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication With Burnout, Empathy, and Attitudes Among Primary Care Physicians

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