Measuring medical students' empathy: a validation study

Abstract

Summary The aim of this study was to validate the Empathy Scale () for use in the context of medical education in Australia. Empathy Scale scores of students in their first clinical year at Monash University were correlated with patient ratings, self ratings, and peer ratings of empathy. Inter‐rater and intra‐rater reliability were assessed. Correlations were also obtained between Empathy Scale scores and course marks in psychiatry. Of the empathy ratings only those by peers correlated significantly with Empathy Scale scores (r = 0.45, P < 0.05, n =29). Empathy Scale scores were unrelated to academic performance. In a separate part of the study, not connected to the establishing of criterion‐related validity, Empathy Scale scores of the medical student group were found to be significantly higher t =4.44, df= 52, P < 0.001) than the scores of psychiatric patients with a diagnosis of ‘personality disorder’. This study provides some support for the Empathy Scale as a measure of interpersonal effectiveness, but has not established it as a valid measure of empathy in a clinical setting.