Details acquired from medical history and patients’ experience of empathy – two sides of the same coin

BMC Medical Education

Sigrid Harendza³  Marjo Wijnen-Meijer²  Susanne Sehner¹  Daniela Vogel³  Friedemann Ohm³ 

[1] University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Biometrics and Epidemiology, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany;Center for Research and Development of Education, UMC Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, Utrecht, GA 3508 The Netherlands;University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Internal Medicine, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany

关键词: Feedback;    Empathy;    Competence;    Communication;    Medical history;    History taking;   

Others  :  1138917
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6920-13-67

 received in 2012-10-18, accepted in 2013-05-06,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

History taking and empathetic communication are two important aspects in successful physician-patient interaction. Gathering important information from the patient’s medical history is needed for effective clinical decision making while empathy is relevant for patient satisfaction. We wanted to investigate whether medical students near graduation are able to combine both skills as required in daily medical practice.

Methods

Thirty near graduates from Hamburg Medical School participated in an assessment for clinical competences including a consultation hour with five standardized patients. Each patient interview was videotaped and standardized patients rated participants with the CARE questionnaire for consultation and relational empathy. All videotaped interviews were rated with a checklist based on the number of important medical aspects for each case. Data were analysed with the linear mixed model to correct for random effects. Regression analysis was performed to look for correlations between the number of questions asked by a participant and their respective empathy rating.

Results

Of the 123 aspects that could have been gathered in total, students only requested 56.4% (95% CI 53.5-59.3). While no difference between male and female participants was found, a significant difference (p < .001) was observed between the two parts of the checklist with 61.1% (95% CI 57.9-64.3) of aspects asked for in part 1 (patient’s symptoms) versus 52.0 (95 47.4-56.7) in part 2 (further history). All female standardized patients combined rated female participants (mean score 14.2, 95% CI 12.3-16.3) to be significantly (p < .01) more empathetic than male participants (mean score 19.2, 95% CI 16.3-22.6). Regression analysis revealed no correlation between the number of medical aspects gathered by a participant and his or her respective empathy score given by the standardized patient in the CARE questionnaire.

Conclusion

Gathering sufficient medical data from a patient’s history and empathetic communication are two completely separate sides of the coin of history taking. While both skills have to be acquired during medical school training with particular focus on their respective learning objectives, medical students need to be provided with additional learning and feedback opportunities where they can be observed exercising both skills combined as required in physicians’ daily practice.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Ohm et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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