Bergen Barbers: A Student-Run Haircut and Grooming Service to Enhance Empathy, Clinical Comfort, and Patient-Centered Skills in Medical Education

Abstract Bergen Barbers is a student-led program at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where medical students provide free haircuts and grooming services to hospitalized patients. The program began as a pilot with four student volunteers in its first year and grew to sixteen newly recruited volunteers each academic year. This pilot study was conducted with the Fall 2025 cohort and used pre/post surveys ( n = 15 pre, n = 12 post) to assess changes in empathy, communication, and clinical confidence. Significant improvements were found in five areas: comfort with diverse patients, rapport-building, comfort with physical patient interactions, hospital navigation, and interactions with hospital staff. Students reported high satisfaction and observed visible mood improvements in patients. Bergen Barbers offers a practical model for building humanistic and clinical skills early in medical training.