Comparison of empathy with patients between first-year and last-year medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences

BMC Medical Education

Seyed Vahid Shariat¹  Ali Moradi²  Sara Mirzamohamadi³  Payman Salamati³  Reyhane Hizomi Arani³  Zohrehsadat Naji⁴ 

[1] Mental Health Research Center, Psychosocial Health Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Occupational Health and Safety Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran;Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box: 1136746911, Tehran, Iran;Young Researchers and Elites Club, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Empathy;    Communication skills;    Ethics/attitudes;    Professionalism;    Curriculum;    Behavioral sciences;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-021-02897-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

PurposeThis study was conducted to assess the developmental factors of empathy among medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).MethodsTo assess the empathy levels, 42 first-year and an equal number of last-year medical students were randomly selected. They answered a questionnaire including the medical student version of the Jefferson Scale, demographic, and some related variables. Statistical analyses were performed using the Chi-square test, T-test, univariate, and multivariate regressions.ResultThe study population consisted of 51 (60.7 %) men and 33 (39.3 %) women with a mean (SD) age of 22.24 (4.10) years. The Jefferson score was 110.19 ± 13.61 and 103.52 ± 20.00 in first- and last-year medical students, respectively. Moreover, medical students who completely passed at least one of the considered empathy courses of the TUMS curriculum had higher empathy scores compared to their counterparts (109.83 ± 15.54 vs. 103.68 ± 19.02). There was no significant association between empathy and gender, self-experience of illness, marital status, family history of chronic disease, and parents’ education (all P-values > 0.05). After adjusting for the effects of confounders, the empathy scores were significantly associated with the academic year level (p = 0.04), level of interest in medicine (p = 0.001), and passing the empathy courses (p = 0.04).ConclusionsThe data provided from a top Iranian medical school indicated that the academic year level, level of interest in medicine, and passing the empathy courses were significantly associated with the empathy level. Further studies are recommended.

【 授权许可】

CC BY