Humanitarian approach in medicine: A study on clinical empathy among medical students and graduates using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy

Abstract

Background Empathy is one of the pillars of professionalism in the medical field associated with better patient satisfaction and outcome. This study aimed to assess and compare the empathy score with other institutes within and outside India using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student version (JSE-S). Methods We did a cross-sectional study for undergraduate medical students and interns of Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, for 4 months from October 2019. Voluntary participants completed the JSE-S, an internationally validated 20-item survey questionnaire. Results The mean empathy score of 575 voluntary participants out of 631 was 100.75, with women having higher and significant scores than men (F 102.1 [11.5]; M 98.3 [12.5]; p<0.001). The highest empathy score was observed in the first year (102 [10.8]), which increased and decreased in different years of medical education with a maximum dip in the second year (99.4 [11.5]). The choice of specialty of participants showed a lower significant difference as per the JSE-S score. A lower empathy score was identified among participants compared to medical students studying in international medical institutes. Conclusion There is a need to organize workshops with training modules to cater to the empathy aspect of professional care, as a continuous process, starting from the first year till the completion of internship.