AUTHOR=San-Martín Montserrat , Delgado-Bolton Roberto , Vivanco Luis
TITLE=Role of a Semiotics-Based Curriculum in Empathy Enhancement: A Longitudinal Study in Three Dominican Medical Schools
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology
VOLUME=8
YEAR=2017
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02018
DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02018
ISSN=1664-1078
ABSTRACT=Background: Empathy in the context of patient care is defined as a predominantly cognitive attribute that involves an understanding of the patient’s experiences, concerns, and perspectives, combined with a capacity to communicate this understanding and an intention to help. In medical education, it is recognized that empathy can be improved by interventional approaches. In this sense, a semiotic-based curriculum could be an important didactic tool for improving medical empathy. The main purpose of this study was to determine if in medical schools where a semiotic-based curriculum is offered, the empathetic orientation of medical students improves as a consequence of the acquisition and development of students’ communication skills that are required in clinician–patient encounters.
Design: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in three medical schools of the Dominican Republic that offer three different medical curricula: (i) a theoretical and practical semiotic-based curriculum; (ii) a theoretical semiotic-based curriculum; and (iii) a curriculum without semiotic courses. The Jefferson scale of empathy was administered in two different moments to students enrolled in pre-clinical cycles of those institutions. Data was subjected to comparative statistical analysis and logistic regression analysis.
Results: The study included 165 students (55 male and 110 female). Comparison analysis showed statistically significant differences in the development of empathy among groups (p < 0.001). Logistic regression confirmed that gender, age, and a semiotic-based curriculum contributed toward the enhancement of empathy.
Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the importance of medical semiotics as a didactic teaching method for improving beginners’ empathetic orientation in patients’ care.