LOGO
EN

Medical students’ empathy and their career preference

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
Streszczenie

Aim of paper: The aim of our study was to determine, if there is any correlation between medical students’ level of empathy and their preferred medical specialty. Material and methods: One hundred and ninety-nine students of Medical Faculty of Łódź Medical University were included in the study. There were 124 females and 75 males; 45.23% were 5th year students, 54.77% were 6th year students; their mean age was 24.07 years (SD=0.92). Subjects included in the study were asked to fill in a psychological test and a questionnaire with demographic data. Empathy was tested using the Empathy Understanding Questionnaire by A. Węgliński. Statistical analysis included the two-factor variance analysis using post hoc Tukey tests. Results: The study revealed significant gender-dependent differences in empathy level (F=4.755; df=1; p=0.0305) and interaction of gender and preferred medical specialty in the field of influence on empathy level (F=2.138; df=7; p=0.0417). No significant association was noticed between empathy level and preferred specialty, although statistical analysis of test results almost reached statistical significance (F=2.001; df=7; p=0.0571). Male medical students declaring a preference for surgery show a significantly lower empathy than female medical students who prefer specialization in psychiatry, internal medicine, both in basic medical care and in hospital setting. Conclusions: Our results confirm a correlation of medical students’ empathy level and their gender, as well as between gender and preferred medical specialty. Male students who preferred surgery had significantly lower empathy level than female students who wanted to pursue a career in psychiatry and internal medicine.

Słowa kluczowe
medical students, medical specialty, empathy, post-graduate training, career planning