Who Has Heart?  Vicarious Empathy Vs. Specialty Choice

Bruce W. Newton*, James Clardy, Laurie Barber and Elton Cleveland, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205 U.S.A.

PURPOSE: Empathy is critical for a successful physician-patient relationship. A physician that displays empathy has greater patient compliance and fewer malpractice suits.  We hypothesized students who showed greater empathy would preferentially enter specialties with greater patient contact and continuity of care. 

METHODS: At the start of the medical school senior year, the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES; Mehrabian), which measures vicarious empathy, was given to the 2001-2004 UAMS graduating classes.  Desired specialty choice was also obtained.  Specialties were divided into “core” and “non-core” categories.  The five core specialties (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Ob/Gyn and Psychiatry) exhibit continuity of patient care; all other 18 specialties were considered non-core. 

RESULTS: The BEES score for a normal population is 45.  BEES scores ranged from 62.25 to 7.25 for Neurology and Neurosurgery, respectively.  Core specialties clustered near the top of the rank-order list (4 of top 6) with BEES scores ranging from 52.21 to 39.00 for Ob/Gyn and Family Medicine, respectively.  The core specialty with the lowest BEES score (33.02; Internal Medicine) was ranked 11 of 23.

CONCLUSIONS: Data support the hypothesis: core specialties, characterized by continuity of patient care, are preferentially chosen by seniors who have higher BEES scores.

This study was supported by the UAMS Teaching Scholars Program funded by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.  UAMS IRB #37178.