Empathy training using role play and video demonstration in medical undergraduate students

Abstract Background: In recent years, considerable attention has been given to training medical students in establishing a trusting relationship with patients. Empathy is a key component in building a doctor–patient relationship. The current curriculum emphasizes such training of medical students. There is a paucity of research on effective interventions of empathy training in medical undergraduates. Aims: To compare role play and video demonstration as an effective teaching method of empathy in medical undergraduates. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used the student version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE-S) to assess 122 medical students. Students were exposed to both role play and video demonstration, with pretest and posttest conducted after each intervention. Results: There was a significant increase in empathy level after both video and role play were employed as teaching methods to improve empathy. It was noted that both video and role play were found to effectively improve empathy in females, whereas only video display proved efficacious in male students. In this study, empathy levels were significantly improved in technology-oriented specialities in both the video and role play interventions. While in people-oriented specialties showed higher empathy levels in the video demonstration only. Conclusion: Interventions focused on improving empathy levels in medical students are effective. Early clinical training and emphasis on gaining empathy as a competency according to the medical curriculum should not be underestimated.