Art-making in a family medicine clerkship: How does it affect medical student empathy?

Abstract

Background: To provide patient-centred holistic care, doctors must possess good interpersonal and empathic skills Medical schools traditionally adopt a skills-based approach to such training but creative engagement with the art has also been effective. A novel arts-based approach may help medical students develop empathic understandin of patients and thus contribute to medical students' transformative process into compassionate doctors. This stud aimed to evaluate the impact of an arts-making workshop on medical student empathy Methods: This was a mixed-method quantitative-qualitative study. In the 2011-12 academic year, all 161 third yea medical students at the University of Hong Kong were randomly allocated into either an arts-making workshop or problem-solving workshop during the Family Medicine clerkship according to a centrally-set timetable. Students i the arts-making workshop wrote a poem, created artwork and completed a reflective essay while students in th conventional workshop problem-solved clinical cases and wrote a case commentary. All students who agreed t participate in the study completed a measure of empathy for medical students, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE (student version), at the start and end of the clerkship. Quantitative data analysis: Paired t-Test and repeated measure ANOVA was used to compare the change within and between groups respectively. Qualitative data analysis Two researchers independently chose representational narratives based on criteria adapted from art therapy The final 20 works were agreed upon by consensus and thematically analysed using a grounded theory approach Results: The level of empathy declined in both groups over time, but with no statistically significant difference between groups. For JSE items relating to emotional influence on medical decision making, participants in th arts-making workshop changed more than those in the problem-solving workshop. From the qualitative data students perceived benefits in arts-making, and gained understanding in relation to self, patients, pain and suffering and the role of the doctor Conclusions: Though quantitative findings showed little difference in empathy between groups, arts-making worksho participants gained empathic understanding in four different thematic areas. This workshop also seemed to promot greater self-Awareness which may help medical students recognize the potential for emotions to sway judgment Future art workshops should focus on emotional awareness and regulation.