Can teaching serious illness communication skills foster multidimensional empathy? A mixed-methods study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To investigate the impact of a serious illness communication skills training course on medical students' attitudes regarding clinical empathy, self-efficacy in empathic communication, and learning on different dimensions of empathy.

Methods

A mixed-methods design was used. A blended learning Serious Illness Communication Skills Training (SI-CST) course was delivered to sixth-year medical students. Students (n=185) completed questionnaires with the 20-item Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and self-rated preparedness level for five empathic communication tasks at baseline (T1), six weeks (T2), and three-to-six months post-training (T3). Written reflections on key lessons learned were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Total JSE scores signifi

SUBMITTER: Yuen JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9835381 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature