The Effects of an Empathic Communication Workshop on Internal Medicine Residents’ Self-Perceived Empathy and Their Patients’ Perception of Physician’s Empathy: A Single-Group Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: Empathetic communication improves the physician-patient relationship, and enhances patients and physicians’ satisfaction. This study aims to evaluate the impacts of empathic communication skills training on physicians’ self-perceived performance and patient satisfaction regarding the empathetic quality of their relationship with their physicians. Methods: In this single-group before-after experimental study, we recruited 50 internal medicine residents at a large teaching hospital. We assessed the residents’ empathy via the Jefferson Scale of Empathy before and 3 weeks after an 8-hour workshop on empathic communication skills. We also recruited 50 of their patients before and another 50 patients 3 weeks after the training to assess patients’ perceptions of physicians’ empathy using the Consultation and Relational Empathy scale. Physicians’ and patients’ mean scores on empathetic care at the beginning of the study were then compared using paired t tests with their scores after the workshop. Results: The Jefferson Empathy Scale mean score of the residents increased from 7.1 + 8.1 to 96.8 + 11.5 following the workshop (p < 0.001). Before the residents received training in empathetic communication skills, patients assessed their doctors' empathy for them at 68.4 + 17.4. After the intervention, this improved to 96.8 + 11.5 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study found that after an empathetic communication workshop for internal medicine residents, both the residents and their patients felt that the residents' communication skills had significantly improved.