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Empathy in high-tech and high-touch medicine.
- Source :
-
Patient education and counseling [Patient Educ Couns] 2014 May; Vol. 95 (2), pp. 259-64. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Feb 05. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Objective: Surgeons and psychiatrists have been described as two contrary groups, the one healing by hands and the other by words. Empathy is needed in every physician-patient relationship. We tested whether (1) surgeons and psychiatrists show different levels of cognitive and emotional empathy; (2) measurements of cognitive and emotional empathy correlate with physician-specific empathy; and (3) gender, experience, and career choices are influencing factors.<br />Methods: 56 surgeons and 50 psychiatrists participated. We measured empathy with the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), cognitive empathy with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Revised (RME-R6), and emotional empathy with the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES).<br />Results: Male psychiatrists scored significantly higher than that of male surgeons (118.0±9.86 vs. 107.5±13.84; p=0.0006) in the JSPE. Analytically trained psychiatrists scored significantly higher in the JSPE than that of behaviorally trained psychiatrists (p=0.024, F test, adjusted for gender). Both the RME and the BEES correlated positively with the JSPE.<br />Conclusion: Higher scores for empathy were found in male psychiatrists than in male surgeons.<br />Practice Implications: Further research is needed to learn about the effects of general medical training on empathy.<br /> (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1873-5134
- Volume :
- 95
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Patient education and counseling
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 24589130
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.01.013