Selecting for empathy? A cross-sectional study on empathy and empathic care intentions in newly enrolled dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy students in Singapore to inform admissions and training

Empathy is a key attribute of healthcare professionals. While it can be nurtured, predispositions toward empathy predict success in healthcare training and practice. We examined empathy and empathic care intentions among newly enrolled healthcare students from Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy in Singapore to inform admissions and curriculum planning. Newly enrolled students from the four disciplines at the National University of Singapore were invited to participate. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professions Student version (JSE-HPS), while empathic care intentions were assessed with a custom-designed seven-item instrument. Parametric or non-parametric statistical tests were used to compare scores between disciplines and across demographic categories. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 646 students participated, with a 37% response rate. The median empathy score was 109 (IQR: 102–116) out of 140. Medicine students had significantly higher empathy scores than students from other disciplines, and Dentistry students scored significantly higher than Nursing students. Similar patterns were observed for empathic care intentions, with Medicine and Dentistry students scoring significantly higher than Nursing and Pharmacy counterparts. Newly enrolled dentistry and medical students had higher empathy and empathic care intentions scores that their counterparts studying Nursing and Pharmacy. Our findings emphasize the importance of integrating valid empathy assessments into the admissions process to identify students who are well-suited for healthcare training and practice. Simultaneously, curricula should be designed to purposefully nurture empathy throughout the training period. This is especially crucial for disciplines where more stringent admissions procedures are not warranted.