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Measures of empathy and the capacity for self-reflection in dental and medical students
- Source :
- BMC Medical Education, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2021), BMC Medical Education
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- BackgroundEmpathy and self-reflection have been studied among medical students, but fewer studies have examined the presence of these attributes among dental students and investigated the correlation between empathy and self-reflection.MethodsFirst-year dental and medical students (n = 198) beginning their studies at the University of Oulu, Finland in August 2017 participated in this study, which was conducted via an internet-based questionnaire. Data were collected on personal characteristics and scores on Davis’s Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Roberts’s Self Reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS).ResultsDifferences in IRI scores between dental and medical students were significant only in male students and in two IRI domains. Mean (SD) scores for male dental and medical students were personal distress, 8.2 (4.0) and 10.7 (3.1) (p = 0.022); empathic concern, 15.0 (4.0) and 16.9 (3.5) (p = 0.054). Mean SRIS scores did not differ between sexes or training programs. Positive correlations (r = − 0.3–0.65) were observed between some empathy and self-reflection subscales.ConclusionsA lower degree of empathy was observed among male dental students than in male medical students. A positive correlation between empathy and self-reflection was demonstrated in both study groups and sexes. However, more research in this field is warranted.
- Subjects :
- Male
Medical education
Study groups
Students, Medical
020205 medical informatics
media_common.quotation_subject
education
lcsh:Medicine
Personal distress
Empathy
02 engineering and technology
Positive correlation
Education
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Surveys and Questionnaires
0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Finland
Empathic concern
media_common
lcsh:LC8-6691
lcsh:Special aspects of education
Self-reflection
lcsh:R
General Medicine
Interpersonal Reactivity Index
Psychology
Research Article
Clinical psychology
Lower degree
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14726920
- Volume :
- 21
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMC Medical Education
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2c170828f8d3503992358431d4ef3506