Examination of the Empathy Scores of Undergraduate and Graduate Students Enrolled in a Faculty of Dentistry

Year 2026, Volume: 13 Issue: 1 , 97 - 101 , 27.04.2026

Melek Beder , Hatice Yemenoğlu , Gurbet Alev Öztaş Şahiner

https://doi.org/10.15311/selcukdentj.1766374

https://izlik.org/JA25ED27CF

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to examine the empathy scores of undergraduate and graduate students studying at Atatürk University Faculty of Dentistry.
Methods: A total of 465 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Atatürk University’s Faculty of Dentistry during the 2024-2025 academic year participated in the study. A questionnaire form was administered digitally to these students, including 11 questions addressing sociodemographic characteristics and the 20-question Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-S) to assess the students’ empathy scores. For statistical analysis of data, p<0.05 was taken.
Results: The mean empathy score for all students was 4.20±0.68. In terms of gender, male students had significantly higher empathy scores than female students (p=0.001). In terms of maternal education, students with mothers with graduate education had significantly higher empathy scores than students with mothers with lower education levels (p=0.004).
Conclusion: This study revealed that dental students and young professionals generally have high levels of empathy, but these levels vary depending on certain personal factors. Empathy training could enable students to communicate more effectively with patients.
Keywords: Empathy, questionnaire, students

Keywords

Empathy , questionnaire , students

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval has been obtained from the Atatürk University Ethics Committee (Decision No: 25-04/2025). All participants have signed the consent form.

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