Rachel Winter¹
Andy Ward¹
1 Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare, Leicester Medical School 

Background:
There is growing recognition that empathy plays a vital role in effective healthcare with multiple benefits for patients and practitioners. Universities and healthcare providers are becoming more invested in empathy training for students and practitioners but evidence suggests this currently lacks consistency, specific learning outcomes and rigorous evaluation. 

Summary of work
The Leicester Foundation Year offers an alternative route into a medical degree for students from less advantaged backgrounds whilst providing an empathy-focused curriculum. The course is assessed via an empathy scale, written reflection, empathy-focused OSCE stations and patient-focused presentations. We asked: 1) What impact does an empathy-focused curriculum have on medical student empathy? 2) How do medical students experience an empathy-focused curriculum and how do they value it? 

A mixed methods approach was employed. Medical students who successfully completed the foundation year between 2017 and 2022 were eligible to take part. Students completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy questionnaire prior to and after the foundation year. Data was analysed using the paired t-test. Focus groups were carried out with students to explore their experience of the foundation year with thematic analysis used to identify themes. 

Results
One hundred and one responses from four student cohorts were analysed with a significant increase in mean scores post curriculum identified across all cohorts. Themes emerging from four focus groups with third, fourth and fifth year medical students included: real patients provide real learning and empathy is a fundamental to practice. 

Discussion
This study demonstrates that empathy-focused curriculums can enhance student empathy and serve to demonstrate to students the importance of empathy in healthcare practice. Students learning and satisfaction can be enhanced by integrating an empathy-focused approach into the medical school curriculum. 

Take home message
Medical educators should consider integrating activities to enhance empathy in students throughout the curricula 

References (maximum three) 

Kelley JM, Kraft-Todd G, Schapira L, Kossowsky J, Reiss H. The influences of the patient- clinician relationship on healthcare outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(4):e94207 

Winter, R., Ward, A., Norman, R.I. et al. A survey of clinical empathy training at UK medical schools. BMC Med Educ 23, 40 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03993-5 

Hojat M, Gonnella JS, Nasca TJ, Mangione S, Vergare M, Magee M. Physician empathy: Definition, components, measurement, and relationship to gender and specialty. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159(9):1563–9