EMPATHY IN MEDICAL EDUCATION: BE A RELATIVE BEFORE BECOMING A DOCTOR

Abstract

Introduction: Empathy is an important concept in medical disciplines as part of emotional intelligence and effective communication skills. “Be a relative before becoming a doctor” project is intended to be applied to medical school students who do not have contact with the patient at the preclinical stage which will enable students to internalize empathy. Materyal and method: Students were enabled to meet with the patient and their relatives within ethical rules and to see the diagnosis and treatment processes in the hospital. In the quantitative dimension of the research, a survey form containing the Jefferson Empathy Scale student version and the general empathy scale was applied before the practice, the Jefferson Empathy Scale student version and the general empathy scale were applied again after the practice. In the qualitative dimension of the research, students were asked to write reoprts based on their experiences, and the reports they wrote were treated as documents and analyzed. Results: The mean age of the students was 20.31±0.85 and 55.7% (n=64) were female students. There was a significant increase in the Jefferson empathy scale score after the empathy practice activity compared to before the empathy practice activity (p=0.0001). Toronto Empathy Scale score increases after the empathy practice activity, although there is no statistically significant difference compared to before the empathy practice activity (p=0.097). When the qualitative reports of students were examined, a total of 354 codes containing the expression of empathy were found. It was observed that empathy was most frequently expressed with waiting time, personal satisfaction and sadness about the disease. Discussion: As a result of this study, in which we evaluated empathy levels both qualitatively and quantitatively, we found that empathy levels increased and patient satisfaction. Fort his reason, we believe that our project is applicable in the educational curriculum of all medical faculties.

Keywords

• Empathy
• medical education
• medical student
• health

TIP EĞİTİMİNDE EMPATİ: DOKTOR OLMADAN ÖNCE HASTA YAKINI OL

Abstract

Giriş: Empati, duygusal zekanın bir parçası ve etkili iletişim becerileri açısından tıp disiplinlerinde önemli bir kavramdır. Preklinik aşamada hasta ile teması olmayan tıp fakültesi ikinci sınıf öğrencilerinde uygulanan “Doktor olmadan önce hasta yakını ol projesi” ve bu projesi ile, empatinin öğrenciler tarafından içselleştirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Öğrencilerin hasta ve yakınlarıyla etik kurallar çerçevesinde görüşmesi, hastanedeki tanı ve tedavi süreçlerini görmeleri sağlandı. Araştırmanın nicel boyutunda uygulama öncesinde Jefferson Empati Ölçeği öğrenci versiyonu ile genel empati ölçeğini içeren anket formu uygulanmış, uygulama sonrasında Jefferson Empati Ölçeği öğrenci versiyonu ve genel empati ölçeği tekrar uygulanmıştır. Araştırmanın nitel boyutunda öğrencilerden deneyimlerine dayalı olarak yeniden değerlendirme yazmaları istenmiş, Hazırlanan bu raporlar doküman olarak ele alınmış ve analize tabi tutulmuştur. Bulgular: Yaş ortalaması 20,31 ± 0,85 olup, %55,7’si (n=64) kız öğrencilerden oluşmaktadır. Empati uygulama etkinliği öncesine göre, empati uygulama etkinliği sonrasında Jefferson Empati ölçeği puanında anlamlı şekilde yükseliş olmuştur (p=0.0001). Toronto Empati ölçeği puanı empati uygulama etkinliği sonrasında, empati uygulama etkinliği öncesine göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı fark olmamakla birlikte, artış göstermektedir (p=0.097). Nitel raporları incelendiğinde, empati ifadesi içeren toplam 354 koda ulaşılmıştır. En çok hastalık ve hastane sürecinin zorluğu, bekleme süresi ve hastalığa üzülme ile empati kurulduğu görülmüştür. Tartışma: Sonuç olarak, bu çalışmanın sonucunda hem nitel hem nicel olarak empati düzeylerinin arttığı, hasta memnuniyetinin olduğunu bulduk. Bu nedenle yaptığımız projenin tüm tıp fakültelerinin eğitim müfredatında uygulanabilir olduğu kanaatindeyiz.

Keywords

• empati
• tıp eğitimi
• tıp öğrencisi
• sağlık

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