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Medical Teacher Volume 35, 2013 - Issue 2
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Research Article

How well do medical students rate and communicate clinical empathy?

Bee Teng LIMUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; BEE TENG LIM, PhD, BA (HONS), is an Assistant Research Fellow at University of Otago – Wellington and a Clinical Psychology Trainee at Massey University. For the past 3 years, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow studying evidence-based positive psychology interventions that promote flourishing and resilience despite adversity. Her research interests include health professionals’ consultation competence, cancer care and survival as well as evidence-based practice.Correspondence[email protected]
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Helen MoriartyUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; HELEN MORIARTY, MBChB, MGP, DPH, PGCertHlthSci (Alcohol drugs, addiction), PGDipTertTeach (Clinical), FRNZCGP, FAChAM(RACP), is a Medical Practitioner with 35 years of experience in both addiction medicine and primary care disciplines. Helen is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago, where her research interests in communication skills and empathy inform her teaching.
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Mark HuthwaiteUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; MARK HUTHWAITE, MbChB (Stell), FCPsych (SA), is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine, and a perinatal psychiatrist in the regional specialist maternal mental health service. He is the course convenor of the fifth year Medical Student module in Psychological Medicine. Huthwaite, together with Moriarty, formulated the original research idea, developed the research method, collected the data and assisted in the writing of this article.
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Lesley GrayUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; LESLEY GRAY, FFPH, MPH, MSc, PGCertEd, FETC, is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago – Wellington, convening the sixth year (trainee intern) GP Module and co-convening a postgraduate primary health care paper. Lesley is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and managed primary care services for a Scottish Health Board in the mid-1990. Lesley's research interests include prevention and lifestyle management; currently looking at how general practitioners raise the issue of overweight and obesity with patients.
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Sue PullonUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; SUE PULLON, MPHC, PGCertTertTeach (Clinical) PGDipGP, FRNZCGP, PGDipObs, MBChB, is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago – Wellington. She has been a GP for 30 years, has wide experience as an undergraduate medical teacher and has led the development of the department's interprofessional postgraduate programme. She is currently researching the development and maintenance of collaborative practice and effective teamwork in primary care settings.
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Peter GallagherUniversity of Otago, New Zealand; PETER GALLAGHER, RN, PhD, MA, PG Dip (Management), PG Dip (Education), PG (Dip Nursing), is the Medical Education Advisor at the University of Otago – Wellington. His main area of educational interest is the learning that occurs in the clinical setting.All the authors made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the data as well as drafting the manuscript and revising it critically for intellectual content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Pages e946-e951 | Published online: 03 Sep 2012
 
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Abstract

Background: This article presents findings from a prospective, longitudinal cohort educational study investigating empathy communication in clinical consultations. It reports on changes in students’ self-report empathy during medical undergraduate training, investigates how well peers can assess student competence in motivational interviewing/brief interventions (MI/BI) skills and explores the relationship between students’ self-report empathy and peer- or tutor-assessments of competence.

Methods: 72 medical students completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy at three time points: at the beginning of their fifth year medical training (Time 1), after a specific MI/BI training session during their fifth year medical training (Time 2) and 1 year later during a revision session in year 6. Competence in BI/MI consultation was assessed using the validated tool Behaviour Change Counselling Index.

Results: A significant decline in medical students’ empathy scores was observed from year 5 to year 6, consistent with international findings. Peer assessments and tutor ratings of competence in MI/BI skills performance were moderately correlated, but peer assessments were negatively correlated with medical students’ self-rated empathy. Senior medical students who self-rated as more empathic received lower competence evaluations of MI/BI skills from their peers. Interventions to further investigate teaching and learning of empathy are discussed.

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