Filed in Research & Studies on January 18, 2021
A new study sponsored by American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) finds that Black medical school students show a higher degree of empathy than their White peers. This, in turn, leads to a higher quality of service to patients, according to the study’s authors. Because empathy is positively correlated with medical school success and patient health, a more empathetic and more diverse healthcare workforce could lead to improved health outcomes for all patient populations, especially those from minority or underserved communities, according to the report.
Researchers surveyed 3,616 first‐year, 2,764 second‐year, 2,413 third‐year, and 1,958 fourth‐year medical students to determine their levels of empathy. African American students scored the highest on the empathy index, while Asian Americans scored the lowest.