Empathy levels and their determinants among moroccan medical students: findings from a crosssectional study

Background: Empathy is important in physician-patient relationship, improving treatment outcomes, patient enablement and satisfaction. This study aims to measure empathy among medical students and analyze its association with different factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study targeting undergraduate medical students of the faculty of medicine of Oujda. The French version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Students (JSE-S) was used to measure empathy scores. The French version of Rosenberg Self-esteem was used to measure self-esteem, in addition to various custom created items about other factors. Results: 638 medical students participated in the study, with a mean age of 21.14 ± 2.6 years. The majority were females (62.7%). The overall mean JSE-S score among the students was 106,06±13.9. Empathy scores were significantly related to gender (p=0.00), age (p=0.00), year of study (p=0.02), passion towards medical studies(p=0.00), spirituality/faith (p=0.00), religiosity (p=0.02) and self-esteem (p=0.018). Conclusion: Strategies to minimize the decline of empathy in senior medical college years must take place with a focus on cultivating a healthy learning environment, spirituality training and a systematic approach to raising students’ self-esteem.