Measuring empathy levels among Kurdish medical students in Erbil City,Iraq cross-sectional study

Objectives: empathy is a crucial attribute within the physician-patient relationship. this study aimed to evaluate the empathy levels of students in the college of medicine at hawler medical university (hmu) in erbil city,iraq. methods: this cross-sectional study took place between january and may 2015 and included all medical undergraduates enrolled at hmu (n = 989). the validated self-administered english language version of the jefferson scale of physician empathy-student version (jspe-sv) was used to measure empathy levels. students reported their conformity to each statement of the 20-item questionnaire on a 7-point likert scale. levels of empathy were considered directly relative to their final score. results: a total of 927 students completed the questionnaire (response rate: 93.7%). the male-to-female ratio was 0.72:1 and the mean age was 21.3 ± 1.4 years. the mean empathy score was 101.9 ± 19.2. female students had significantly higher empathy (p = 0.023) and more frequently chose people-oriented specialties (p = 0.001) than males. first-year students reported the highest mean score (112.9 ± 20.1) while fourth-year students had the lowest (92.7 ± 16.0). there was a significant decline in mean scores between first- and second-year male students (p = 0.020) and first- and fourth-year male students (p = 0.050). students who chose people-oriented specialties had significantly higher scores than those who chose technologyoriented specialties (p = 0.002). conclusion: the studied cohort of hmu students demonstrated low empathy levels. as such,the inclusion of empathy instruction in medical school curricula is recommended to promote professionalism and patient welfare. © 2016,sultan qaboos university. all rights reserved.