Authors

Yusuke Fukuyasu, Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Hitomi U Kataoka, Okayama University Hospital Center for Diversity and Inclusion, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan; Department of Primary Care and Medical Education, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Miwako Honda, Geriatric Research Division, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan
Toshihide Iwase, Department of Primary Care and Medical Education, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Hiroko Ogawa, Department of Primary Care and Medical Education, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Masaru Sato, Department of Primary Care and Medical Education, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Mayu Watanabe, Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan; Department of Primary Care and Medical Education, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Chikako Fujii, Okayama University Hospital Center for Diversity and Inclusion, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan
Jun Wada, Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Jennifer DeSantis, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Asano-Gonnella Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USAFollow
Mohammadreza Hojat Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Asano-Gonnella Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USAFollow
Joseph S. Gonnella, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Asano-Gonnella Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USAFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-4-2021

Comments

This article is the author's final published version in BMC Medical Education, Volume 21, Issue 1, June 2021, Article number 316.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02773-x

Copyright © The Author(s) 2021

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Empathy, which involves understanding another person's experiences and concerns, is an important component for developing physicians' overall competence. This longitudinal study was designed to test the hypothesis that medical students' empathy can be enhanced and sustained by Humanitude Care Methodology, which focuses on perception, emotion and speech.

METHODS: This six-year longitudinal observational study examined 115 students who entered Okayama University Medical School in 2013. The study participants were exposed to two empathy-enhancing programs: (1) a communication skills training program (involving medical interviews) and (2) a Humanitude training program aimed at enhancing their empathy. They completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) seven times: when they entered medical school, before participation in the first program (medical interview), immediately after the first program, before the second program (Humanitude exercise), immediately after the second program, and in the 5th and 6th year (last year) of medical school. A total of 79 students (69% of the cohort) completed all seven test administrations of the JSE.

RESULTS: The mean JSE scores improved significantly after participation in the medical interview program (p < 0.01) and the Humanitude training program (p = 0.001). However, neither program showed a sustained effect.

CONCLUSIONS: The Humanitude training program as well as medical interview training program, had significant short-term positive effects for improving empathy among medical students. Additional reinforcements may be necessary for a long-term sustained effect.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

34088308

Language

English

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