A Cross-sectional Measurement of Medical Student Empathy

Daniel Chen, MD,

Robert Lew, PhD

Warren Hershman, MD,

and Jay Orlander, MD,

Background

Empathy is important in the physician–patient relationship. Prior studies have suggested that physician empathy may decline with clinical training.

Objective

To measure and examine student empathy across medical school years.

Design and Participants

A cross-sectional study of students at Boston University School of Medicine in 2006. Incoming students plus each class near the end of the academic year were surveyed.