Long-term effects of empathy training on the interview skills of medical students.

A study examining the effects of empathy training, three years after completion of the program, is reported. The results indicate that, while the students' ability to empathize declines significantly with time, their level of skill is still higher than that of students who receives no training and are at a comparable stage in their medical education. The findings provide further support for requiring a continuing emphasis on training undergraduates in communication skills throughout their medical curriculum.