Lost in translation: a qualitative study of medical students' experiences of theoretical and practical teaching of empathy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Empathy has proven to be a fundamental component in the patient-doctor relationship and correlates to several positive outcomes in patient care. Despite this, research suggests that empathy decreases during medical education. To increase the understanding of empathy development during medical education, this study explores medical students' experiences of learning empathy in the transition from theoretical to practical context.

Methods

Eleven semi-structured interviews with students at a medical school in Sweden. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using grounded theory.

Results

The analysis resulted in three categories and a core category "Lost in translation". Early on, students regard empathy as a valued and necessary skill. While stude

SUBMITTER: von Knorring J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11616379 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature