Empathy among Iranian Medical Students

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Background: Empathy in physician is considered as an essential factors in patient's care than can facilitate the treatment effects of patient-physician relationship. The objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate empathy among Iranian medical students; 2) examine the relationships between empathy scores and demographic characteristics including gender, marital status, living and working location (urban or rural); and 3) compare empathy in undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Methods: This current study was a cross-sectional design which conducted in 2014-15 years. The population consisted of all medical interns and residents in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (Iran) out of which 268 students answered a demographic and Jefferson Scale of physician Empathy Heath professional questionnaires. Data collection and analysis was conducted by using Pearson correlation and regression analysis (SPSS-18). Results: the mean empathy score of the participants was 99; the mean empathy score of married participants (102.37) was higher than that of single ones (98.80) (p<0.5); no significant difference was observed between the mean empathy score and gender or educational level of the participants; the mean empathy score of medical residents was 100.55 and psychiatry residents gained the highest scores (mean: 113.44). Conclusions: According to the results, while developing medical education curriculum, It seem essential to notice to the enhancement of empathy skills and communication among medical students as these skills can improve the overall patient-doctor relationship.