Casas Rachel S, Xuan Ziming, Jackson Angela H, Stanfield Lorraine E, Harvey Nanette C, Chen Daniel C
Evans Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Patient Educ Couns. 2017 Apr;100(4):742-747. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2016.11.006. Epub 2016 Nov 10.
Empathy is a crucial skill for medical students that can be difficult to evaluate. We examined if self-reported empathy in medical students was associated with clinical competence.
This study combined cross-sectional data from four consecutive years of medical students (N=590) from the Boston University School of Medicine. We used regression analysis to evaluate if self-reported empathy (Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE)) predicted scores in clinical clerkships, United States Medical Licensing Examinations, and OBJECTIVE: Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). We separately analyzed overall and OSCE communication scores based on interpersonal skills reported by standardized patients. We controlled for age, gender, debt, and specialty affinity.
JSPE scores of medical students were positively associated with OSCE communication scores, and remained significant when controlling for demographics. We found that JSPE score was also predictive of overall OSCE scores, but this relationship was confounded by gender and age. JSPE scores were associated with performance in the Pediatrics clerkship, but not other clerkships or standardized tests.
JSPE scores were positively associated with OSCE communication scores in medical students.
This study supports that self-reported empathy may predict OSCE performance, but further research is needed to examine differences by gender and age.
共情是医学生的一项关键技能，但其评估可能具有挑战性。我们探讨了医学生自我报告的共情能力是否与临床能力相关。
本研究合并了波士顿大学医学院连续四年医学生（N = 590）的横断面数据。我们使用回归分析来评估自我报告的共情能力（杰斐逊医生共情量表（JSPE））是否能预测临床实习、美国医学执照考试和客观结构化临床考试（OSCE）的成绩。我们根据标准化病人报告的人际技能，分别分析了总体和OSCE沟通得分。我们控制了年龄、性别、债务和专业亲和力。
医学生的JSPE得分与OSCE沟通得分呈正相关，在控制人口统计学因素后仍具有显著性。我们发现JSPE得分也可预测OSCE总体成绩，但这种关系受到性别和年龄的干扰。JSPE得分与儿科实习表现相关，但与其他实习或标准化考试无关。
医学生的JSPE得分与OSCE沟通得分呈正相关。
本研究支持自我报告的共情能力可能预测OSCE表现，但需要进一步研究以考察性别和年龄差异。
