Measures of Burnout and Empathy in United States Doctor of Pharmacy Students: Time for a Change?

Purpose: To review interim data regarding longitudinal burnout and empathy levels in a single Doctor of Pharmacy class cohort. Methods: Students were emailed an electronic survey during their first semester and annually at the end of each academic year for a total of 3 years (2017-2020). Validated survey tools included the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) student version. The JSE survey consists of 20 questions, with higher scores denoting more empathy. The MBI student version contains 3 subscales: exhaustion (higher scores are worse), cynicism (higher scores are worse) and professional efficacy (higher scores are better). Results: The median JSE score at the end of the third academic year (PY3) was 110, with females scoring significantly higher (114.5 vs. 103.5; p