Evaluating the relationship between empathy and motivation for medical education in medical student at the Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital

Authors

  • Benjamart Pratoomthai Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University
  • Thirawass Phumyoo Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University
  • Bongkoch Turathum Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University
  • Waranya Imprasittichai Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University
  • Gun Anantasomboon Faculty of Science, Rangsit University
  • Kanokporn Chayaburakul Faculty of Science, Rangsit University

Keywords:

Empathy, motivation for medical education, medical student, Vajira Hospital

Abstract

Background : Empathy is considered as a crucial part of a doctor’s profession that should be mastered by medical graduates. Recently, however, many studies reported the medical students’ empathy declines during their time at medical school. Thus, the development of empathy in the period of formal education is essential. The involvement of factor such as motivation for medical education might play a role in the development of empathy.

Objective : To evaluate the relationship between empathy and motivation for medical education among medical students.

Methods : This descriptive prospective study was conducted regarding first to fifth year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Thailand (n = 215). We used the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student Version to measure empathy and the Strength of Motivation for Medical School (SMMS) questionnaire to determine students’ motivation for medical education. The data were statistically analyzed by SPSS program.

Results : The results showed that the empathy score was positively correlated to motivation for medical education score (r = 0.226, P = 0.001). Mean scores of empathy and SMMS were 102 gif.latex?\pm 12.34 (maximum = 140) and 51.85 gif.latex?\pm 7.76 (maximum = 75), respectively. SMMS score detected significant difference between first and third year medical student (P < 0.05). However, educational level, GPA, and gender were not found related to the two concepts.

Conclusion : Our study provides an empirical evidence to support the contention that level of empathy is positively-related to motivation for medical education in medical student.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Kaplan SH, Greenfield S, Ware JE Jr. Assessing the effects of physician-patient interactions on the outcomes of chronic disease. Med Care 1989;27:S110-27.

https://doi.org/10.1097/00005650-198903001-00010

Epstein RM, Siegel DJ, Silberman J. Selfmonitoring in clinical practice: a challenge for medical educators. J Contin Educ Health Prof 2008;28:5-13. https://doi.org/10.1002/chp.149

Stephenson A, Higgs R, Sugarman J. Teaching professional development in medical schools. Lancet 2001;357:867-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(00)04201-X

Stepien KA, Baernstein A. Educating for empathy. J Gen Intern Med 2006;21:524-30.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00443.x

Hojat M, Gonnella JS, Nasca TJ, Mangione S, Veloksi JJ, Magee M. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: Further psychometric data and differences by gender and specialty at item level. Acad Med 2002;77:S58-60. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200210001-00019

Roh MS, Hahm BJ, Lee DH, Suh DH. Evaluation of empathy among Korean medical students: A cross-sectional study using the Korean Version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. Teach Learn Med 2010;22:167-71.https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2010.488191

Chen D, Lew R, Hershman W, Orlander J. A cross-sectional measurement of medical student empathy. J Gen Intern Med 2007;22: 1434-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0298-x

Bertram K, Randazzo J, Alabi N, Levenson J, Doucette JT, Barbosa P. Strong correlations between empathy, emotional intelligence, and personality traits among podiatric medical students: A cross-sectional study. Educ Health (Abingdon) 2016;29:186-94.

Mann KV. Motivation in medical education: how theory can inform our practice. Acad Med 1999;74:237-9. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-199903000-00011

Hojat M, Zuckerman M, Magee M, Mangione S, Nasca T, Vergare M, et al. Empathy in medical students as related to specialty interest, personality, and perceptions of mother and father. Pers Individ Dif 2005;39: 1205-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.04.007

Elliot AJ, McGregor H.A, Gable S. Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. J Educ Psychol 1999;91:549-63. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.3.549

Kusurkar RA, Ten Cate TJ, Vos CM, Westers P, Croiset G. How motivation affects academic performance: a structural equation modelling analysis. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract 2013 ;18:57-69.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9354-3

Kusurkar RA, Croiset G, Galindo-Garr F, Ten Cate O. Motivational profiles of medical students: association with study effort, academic performance and exhaustion. BMC Med Educ 2013;19:87.

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-13-87

Jumroonrojana K, Zartrungpak S. Development of the Jefferson Scale of Physician empathyStudent Version (Thai Version). J Psychiatr Assoc Thailand 2012;57:213-24.

Lawanont N. Motivation to study medicine of medical students at Faculty of Medicine [dissertation]. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University; 2015.

Kataoka HU, Koide N, Ochi K, Hojat M, Gonnella JS. Measurement of empathy among Japanese medical students: Psychometrics and score differences by gender and level of medical education. Acad Med 2009;84: 1192-7. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181b180d4

Tavakol S, Dennick R, Tavakol M. Psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. BMC Med Educ 2011;2:11:54.

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-11-54

Rahimi-Madiseh M, Tavakol M, Dennick R, Nasiri J. Empathy in Iranian medical students: A preliminary psychometric analysis and differences by gender and year of medical school. Med Teach 2010;32:e471-8.

https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2010.509419

Raof AM, Yassin BA. Measuring Empathy Levels among Kurdish Medical Students in Erbil City, Iraq. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2016; 16:e62-7. https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2016.16.01.011

Hojat M. Empathy in patient care: antecedents, development, measurement, and outcomes. New York: Springer; 2007.

Sacks MH, Frosch WA, Kesselman M, Parker L. Psychiatric problems in third-year medical students. Am J Psychiatry 1980;137:822-5. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.137.7.822

Gon alves-Pereira M, Loureiro J, Trancas B, Papoila A, Caldas-de-Almeida JM. Empathy as related to motivations for medicine in a sample of first-year medical students. Psychol Rep 2013;112:73-88.

https://doi.org/10.2466/17.13.PR0.112.1.73-88

McManus IC, Livingston G, Katona C. The attractions of medicine: the generic motivations of medical school applicants in relation to demography, personality and achievement. BMC Med Educ 2006;6:11.

https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-6-11

Turczynska K, Ksiezoplska-Kaczorowska A, Hebanowski M, Komorowska-Szczepanska W. Empathy and motives in choosing medical studies as possible predictors of future physician's career performance. Pol Merkur Lekarski 2003;14:243-7.

Downloads

Published

2023-08-16

How to Cite

1.
Pratoomthai B, Phumyoo T, Turathum B, Imprasittichai W, Anantasomboon G, Chayaburakul K. Evaluating the relationship between empathy and motivation for medical education in medical student at the Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital. Chula Med J [Internet]. 2023 Aug. 16 [cited 2024 Dec. 23];62(3). Available from: https://he05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/CMJ/article/view/344

Issue

Vol. 62 No. 3 (2018): Chulalongkorn Medical Journal

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Chulalongkorn Medical Journal

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.