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Cited by 110Empathy and Medical EducationSimulation-Based Education in HealthcareInnovations in Medical Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Using Virtual Patients to Teach Empathy: A Randomized Controlled Study to Enhance Medical Students’ Empathic Communication

Foster, Adriana, Chaudhary, Neelam, Kim, Thomas, Waller, Jennifer L., Wong, Joyce, Borish, Michael, Cordar, Andrew, Lok, Benjamin, Buckley, Peter F.·2016·Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare
DOI 10.1097/sih.0000000000000142
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Abstract

Introduction: Physician empathy is a complex phenomenon known to improve illness outcomes; however, few tools are available for deliberate practice of empathy. We used a virtual patient (VP) to teach empathic communication to first-year medical students. We then evaluated students’ verbal empathy in a standardized patient (SP) interaction. Methods: Seventy medical students, randomly assigned to 3 separate study groups, interacted with (1) a control VP portraying depression, (2) a VP with a backstory simulating patient shadowing, or (3) a VP able to give immediate feedback about empathic communication (empathy-feedback VP). Subsequently, the students interviewed an SP portraying a scenario that included opportunities to express empathy. All SP interviews were recorded and transcribed. The study outcomes were (1) the students’ verbal response to the empathic opportunities presented by the SP, as coded by reliable assessors using the Empathic Communication Coding System, and (2) the students’ responses as coded by the SPs, using a communication checklist. Results: There were no significant differences in student demographics between groups. The students who interacted with the empathy-feedback VP showed higher empathy in the SP interview than did the students in the backstory VP and the control VP groups [mean (SD) empathy scores coded on a 0–6 scale were 2.91 (0.16) vs. 2.20 (0.22) and 2.27 (0.21), respectively). The difference in scores was significant only for the empathy-feedback VP versus the backstory VP group (P = 0.027). The SPs rated the empathy-feedback and the backstory VP groups significantly higher than the control VP group on offering empathic statements (P < 0.0001), appearing warm and caring (P = 0.015), and forming rapport (P = 0.004). Conclusions: Feedback on empathy in a VP interaction increased students’ empathy in encounters with SPs, as rated by trained assessors, whereas a simulation of patient shadowing did not. Both VP interventions increased students’ empathy as rated by SPs, compared with the control VP group.

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 28

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Metadata

Authors
Foster, A., Chaudhary, N., Kim, T., Waller, J. L., Wong, J., Borish, M., Cordar, A., Lok, B., & Buckley, P. F.
Affiliations
Tufts University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Simulation in Healthcare: The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2016-06
Volume
11
Issue
3
Pages
181-189
ISSN
  • 1559-2332 (ISSN-L)
  • 1559-713X
DOI
10.1097/sih.0000000000000142
OpenAlex
W2334344335
Cited by
110
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4
FWCI
6.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Simulation in Healthcare The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
  • Social Sciences › Education › Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
  • Social Sciences › Education › Innovations in Medical Education
Keywords
physician empathy, virtual patients, empathic communication, medical students, standardized patients, communication skills training, rapport formation
MeSH terms
Simulation Training, Adult, Communication, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Empathy, Feedback, Female, Humans, Male, Physician-Patient Relations

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