CLINICAL EMPATHY OF MEDICAL STUDENTS

Empathy is an essential quality for all in their social and family relations, but it becomes more important when it comes to the doctor-patient relationship it is a skill future doctors must master. Our objective was to assess the level of empathy among medical students through the Jefferson scale and highlight the factors influencing empathy and its evolution during medical studies. Our aim was to provide elements to help improve the level of empathy. For the purpose of conducting our research, we asked students from the third to sixth year of medicine at University Hospital Mohammed VI in Marrakech to complete an anonymous questionnaire divided into two sections: personal and socio-demographic information and the Jefferson scale of attitudes of empathy in its French adaptation, which measures clinical empathy in three components.We retained 433 usable questionnaires: 59% of which belonged to female students. The average age was of 22 and the average Jefferson score of 88.69 points. We found that students empathy was associated with gender and that girls showed higher levels than boys. Moreover, we found an association between empathy and financial aid: students with a scholarship were more empathetic. This empathy was also associated with a family history of chronic illness, chronic or personal psychiatric illness the presence of one of these factors makes students more empathetic. However, as the age and academic level of the students increased, the level of empathy decreased. This allowed us to conclude that the levels of empathy among students were declining over time. In conclusion, we discuss the nature of empathy: Is it an innate or learned ability? Can it be taught? Or can it be improved by psychotherapy measures?