Is empathy change in medical school geo-socioculturally influenced?

CONTEXT

There is convincing evidence that physician empathy leads to better patient care. As a result, there has been considerable research interest in investigating how empathy changes during undergraduate medical studies. Early (generally North American) studies raised concerns that medical training causes a decline in empathy. More recent studies (conducted around the world) have begun to suggest that either a slight increase or decrease in empathy occurs during undergraduate medical training, which has led some to argue that empathy changes indiscriminately (with no discernible pattern). This paper explores whether there is evidence to suggest that empathy changes indiscriminately or with a discernible geo-sociocultural pattern during undergraduate medical training.

METHODS

Literature that investigated change in empathy during undergraduate medical training was reviewed. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies were tabulated separately according to their respective geographical locations. The tabulated results were analysed to investigate whether empathy changed similarly or differently within different geographical locations.

RESULTS

The studies reviewed indicate similar patterns of empathy change within approximate geo-sociocultural clusters. Whereas US studies predominantly show small but significant decreases in empathy, Far Eastern studies mostly show small but significant increases in empathy as undergraduates progress through the medical course.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that change in empathy during undergraduate medical education is not as indiscriminate (patternless) as once thought. Additionally, these results support the notion that empathy is a locally construed global construct.