JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Empathy is essential for patient-centered care, yet medical students often face an "empathy erosion" during their training. While empathy can be enhanced through education, there is a lack of longitudinal research on the sustainability of such interventions in non-Western settings. This study investigates the effectiveness of a communication-focused program on medical students' empathy levels over a six-month period. We aim to establish baseline data and derive implications for the systematic design of empathy-based curricula in medical education.

Objective:

This study investigated the effects of a communication-focused curriculum on Korean medical students’ empathy and its sustainability over time.

Methods:

The Korean version of Empathy was administered to 119 second-year premedical students at three time points: pre-program, immediately post-program, and six-month follow-up.

Results:

Overall empathy significantly increased immediately after the program, then slightly decreased at the six-month follow-up, but remained higher than at the pre-program baseline. Emotional empathy showed a similar trend, whereas cognitive empathy improved marginally at the six-month follow-up, though without statistical significance. Female students exhibited higher empathy levels than male students, with both groups showing similar patterns of change over time. Confidence in applying empathy significantly improved in daily interactions and doctor–patient relationships immediately after the program and at follow-up.

Conclusions:

Communication-focused education can effectively improve medical students’ empathy, with effects sustained over time. These findings provide fundamental evidence to support the systematic design and implementation of empathy curricula.