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Journal of Medical Education

Abstract

Background: Communication skills is one of the core competencies for medical education. Empathy is an important element for building up good doctor-patient communications. The purpose of this study was to understand the effect of an empathy training program on enhancing performing empathy in a medical school in northern Taiwan. Methods: Equivalent pre-post test design was applied to the study. One hundred eight freshmen participated in this study. Students were divided into four classes, which then assigned them into two groups, either an experimental or control group. Participants in the experimental group received eight weekly sessions of 100-minute communication skills trainings. Participants in the control group received no intervention. Standardized instruments included the Trait Meta-Mood Scale and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version. Data were analyzed by pre-post t-tests. Results: This study found no significant differences in physician's empathy scores between pre and post test. However, the experimental group showed to have higher perceived emotional intelligence score after the intervention. Conclusion: To develop the ability of becoming aware of emotions by training can be effective. However, teaching empathy in medical school is a complex process that requires more exploration and efforts by both instructors and researchers.

First Page

156

Last Page

164

DOI

10.6145/jme201317

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