Qualitative insights into empathy in medical education: perspectives from students, doctors, and educators

作者：Fan Yang, Fuhao Lei, Yong Li, Tao Yang · 发表于：BMC Medical Education · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12909-025-06882-9 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Empathy and Medical Education、Innovations in Medical Education、Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout

BACKGROUND: Empathy is the cornerstone of high-quality medical education and clinical practice. It not only serves as a vital link for establishing trust-based doctor-patient relationships but also significantly impacts patients' treatment compliance and recovery outcomes. In medical education, an empathetic approach can cultivate future medical professionals' humanistic care awareness, enabling them to better understand patients' physical and mental sufferings.However, the understanding and cultivation of empathy vary remarkably across different cultural backgrounds.Thus, there is an urgent need to conduct in-depth research to clarify these issues and promote the better development of empathy-based medical education. METHODS: A total of 24 participants, including medical students, practicing doctors, and medical teachers, were recruited for this study. Semi-structured interviews were employed as the data-collection method. Each interview lasted approximately 30-60 min, and all interviews were audio-recorded and then transcribed verbatim.For data analysis, a three-level coding approach was adopted. The analysis was independently conducted by two members of the research team to ensure reliability and consistency. RESULTS: This study delves into empathy ability within medical education. The theme analysis yields significant results: the definition of empathy involves basic understanding with distinct emotional and cognitive emphases, multi-dimensional attributes showcasing empa...