The medical empathy, is it born or is it done? Evolution of the empathy in medical students

Objective: Empathy is one of the basic skills in medicine that promotes better doctor-patient relationship, best professional competition and less professional stress. We don't found studies in our area. This study aims to measure the degree of empathy in medical students in our area and associated factors. Design: Cross-sectional study. Location: Faculty of Medicine, University of Lleida (Spain). Participants: Pass in class of 1st, 3rd and second cycle of Medicine, at 191 students. 173 students (90%) completed the questionnaire. Main measurements: TECA questionnaire to measure general empathy with 4 subscales (empathic understanding, perspective taking, empathic happiness and empathic stress), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: We found a progression in empathy during medical courses. Women have greater empathy but also increased empathic stress. Men have less general empathy, less progression of empathy and less emphatic stress. Students that show a preference to House TV movie have less empathy and those with family doctors. Voluntary students have greater empathy and those who have had a sick friend. We don't have found relationship between empathy and preferred specialty. Conclusions: There are several variables that are related to empathy in medical students: Women, advanced courses, experiences close to serious illnesses and those involved in voluntary activities. (C) 2014 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.