Empathy and the Medical Student House Call: The Effect of Clinical Settings on Empathy in Third Year Medical Students

Philip B Collins; Thomas Dinzeo; Jennifer C Sepede; John F Bertagnolli; Christian White

doi:10.1177/23821205231175804

Empathy and the Medical Student House Call: The Effect of Clinical Settings on Empathy in Third Year Medical Students

J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2023 May 15:10:23821205231175804. doi: 10.1177/23821205231175804. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Philip B Collins¹, Thomas Dinzeo², Jennifer C Sepede¹, John F Bertagnolli³, Christian White³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.
² Department of Psychology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA.
³ Department of Geriatrics, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.

Abstract

Objective: This study measured the effect the experience of house calls might have on third-year medical students.

Methods: Students were surveyed via an anonymous online survey at the start of their geriatrics clerkship, again at the end of their clerkship, and once more three months later. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Student version (JSE) and student attitudes towards the geriatrics population was measured using the UCLA Geriatrics Attitudes Scale (GAS). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.0.

Results: No changes in empathy were found when comparing students who completed house calls versus those who did not. However, students who trained in office settings were noted to have higher JSE scores at the three-month follow-up survey, students who worked in hospital settings had higher JSE scores at the completion of the clerkship, and student who worked in assisted living facilities had higher GAS scores at the completion of the clerkship.

Conclusions: Teaching students ways to improve empathy can be challenging. The setting in which a student trains may be an area of focus for improving empathy among trainees and should be researched further.

Keywords: empathy; house call; medical student.