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. 2021 May 22;21(1):292.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02697-6.

A systematic scoping review of approaches to teaching and assessing empathy in medicine

Yi Cheng Zhou  1   2 , Shien Ru Tan  1   2 , Chester Guan Hao Tan  1   2 , Matthew Song Peng Ng  1   2 , Kia Hui Lim  1   2 , Lorraine Hui En Tan  1   2 , Yun Ting Ong  1   2 , Clarissa Wei Shuen Cheong  1   2 , Annelissa Mien Chew Chin  3 , Min Chiam  4 , Elisha Wan Ying Chia  2 , Crystal Lim  5   6 , Limin Wijaya  5   7 , Anupama Roy Chowdhury  8 , Jin Wei Kwek  5   9 , Warren Fong  5   10 , Nagavalli Somasundaram  5   11 , Eng Koon Ong  2   5 , Stephen Mason  12 , Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna  13   14   15   16   17   18   19
Affiliations

A systematic scoping review of approaches to teaching and assessing empathy in medicine

Yi Cheng Zhou et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Empathy is pivotal to effective clinical care. Yet, the art of nurturing and assessing empathy in medical schools is rarely consistent and poorly studied. To inform future design of programs aimed at nurturing empathy in medical students and doctors, a review is proposed.

Methods: This systematic scoping review (SSR) employs a novel approach called the Systematic Evidence Based Approach (SEBA) to enhance the reproducibility and transparency of the process. This 6-stage SSR in SEBA involved three teams of independent researchers who reviewed eight bibliographic and grey literature databases and performed concurrent thematic and content analysis to evaluate the data.

Results: In total, 24429 abstracts were identified, 1188 reviewed, and 136 included for analysis. Thematic and content analysis revealed five similar themes/categories. These comprised the 1) definition of empathy, 2) approaches to nurturing empathy, 3) methods to assessing empathy, 4) outcome measures, and 5) enablers/barriers to a successful curriculum.

Conclusions: Nurturing empathy in medicine occurs in stages, thus underlining the need for it to be integrated into a formal program built around a spiralled curriculum. We forward a framework built upon these stages and focus attention on effective assessments at each stage of the program. Tellingly, there is also a clear need to consider the link between nurturing empathy and one's professional identity formation. This foregrounds the need for more effective tools to assess empathy and to better understand their role in longitudinal and portfolio based learning programs.

Keywords: Empathy; Medical education; Medical schools; Nurturing empathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The SEBA Process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
PRISMA Flowchart
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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