Impact of Communication Training on the Empathy of Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction: Effective doctor-patient communication is a key determinant of quality health care and is closely associated with empathy, a communication competency considered essential in medical education, particularly for medical students. This study aimed to examine the effect of effective doctor-patient communication training on the empathy among students in the Medical Education Study Program, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar.

Method: A one-group pretest-posttest pre-experimental design was applied to 78 students who were undertaking mentoring activities for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in the 1000 Days of Life program. Empathy was measured before and after communication training and simulation using the Indonesian-validated Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (20 items, five-point Likert scale). Data were analyzed using a paired t-test.

Results: The median empathy score increased from 66 (50-98) to 70 (61-100) and the mean score increased from 68.36±8.122 to 71.76±7.889. The paired t-test showed a significant improvement (P = 0.014). Most respondents remained in the low-empathy category at both time points (61.5% at pretest and 55.2% at posttest).

Conclusion: Effective doctor-patient communication training significantly improved the empathy scores among medical students, although most students remained in the low-empathy category, indicating a need for continued and more comprehensive integration of communication training into the curriculum.

Keywords: Communication, doctor-patient relationship, empathy, Jefferson scale, medical students