| Humanism at heart: preserving empathy in third-year medical students. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21248596 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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PURPOSE: Research suggests that medical student empathy erodes during undergraduate medical education. The authors evaluated the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy Medical Student Version (JSPE-MS) scores of two consecutive medical school classes to assess the impact of an educational intervention on the preservation of empathy. METHOD: The authors conducted a before-and-after study of 209 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) students enrolled in the classes of 2009 and 2010. Students' clerkships included a mandatory, longitudinal "Humanism and Professionalism" (H&P) component, which included blogging about clerkship experiences, debriefing after significant events, and discussing journal articles, fiction, and film. Students completed the JSPE-MS during their first and last clerkships. RESULTS: The results showed that (1) contrary to previous studies' findings, third-year students did not show significant decline in empathy as measured by the JSPE-MS (these students, from two consecutive RWJMS classes, experienced the H&P intervention), (2) students selected for the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) were significantly different from their peers in empathy scores as measured by JSPE-MS, and (3) knowledge of selection for the GHHS seems to positively influence students' JSPE-MS scores. CONCLUSIONS: Maintaining empathy during the third year of medical school is possible through educational intervention. A curriculum that includes safe, protected time for third-year students to discuss their reactions to patient care situations during clerkships may have contributed to the preservation of empathy. Programs designed to validate humanism in medicine (such as the GHHS) may reverse the decline in empathy as measured by the JSPE-MS. |
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Authors:
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Susan Rosenthal; Brian Howard; Yvette R Schlussel; Dana Herrigel; B Gabriel Smolarz; Brian Gable; Jennifer Vasquez; Heather Grigo; Margit Kaufman |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Evaluation Studies; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges Volume: 86 ISSN: 1938-808X ISO Abbreviation: Acad Med Publication Date: 2011 Mar |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-02-24 Completed Date: 2011-05-31 Revised Date: 2011-11-01 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8904605 Medline TA: Acad Med Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 350-8 Citation Subset: AIM; IM |
Affiliation:
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Meridian Health, Neptune, New Jersey, USA. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adult Clinical Clerkship / organization & administration* Curriculum* Empathy* Ethics, Medical / education* Female Humanism* Humans Longitudinal Studies Male Program Evaluation Students, Medical / psychology* Young Adult |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
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Acad Med. 2011 Oct;86(10):1195; author reply 1195
[PMID:
21955712
]
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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