Empathy and attitudes among medical students: The effects of group experience

Avner Elizur, Eliyahu Rosenheim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study compares the level of empathy of medical students with the levels of empathy among other university students. It also explores the impact of the psychiatric clerkship with group experience on the medical students’ empathy for and attitudes toward mental patients as compared with the level of attitudes and empathy of medical students without group experience. The results indicated that psychiatric teaching can change and enhance empathy and increase positive attitudes toward mental illness among medical students. These results were dependent upon the students’ participation in a self-exploratory group experience. An additional goal of the study was to test the impact of medical students’ psychiatric clerkships on the relationship between the level of self-reported empathy and the level of empathy as judged by their peer group. It was found that these separate vantage points merged as a consequence of group participation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)675-683
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Medical Education
Volume57
Issue number9
StatePublished - Sep 1982

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