title: A study of empathy decline in physician assistant students at completion of first didactic year.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This research investigated empathy trends among physician assistant (PA) students through their education and included gender differences and specialty job interest. This research partially replicates similar studies of medical and other health professions students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Jefferson Scale on Physician Empathy (SPE) was administered to PA students three times: (1) during matriculation, (2) near the end of their didactic training and (3) during their clinical education phase. Data were analyzed using both parametric (ANOVA) and nonparametric (binomial) methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 328 survey responses (270 females, 57 males, and one nonindicator) from the graduating classes of 2009 through 2014 at a northeastern university were collected and analyzed. Reliability for the JSPE was .80 (Cronbach) in this sample. Sixty-two percent had lower median JSPE empathy scores toward the end of their didactic training than at the time of matriculation (P = .0001), while the difference between empathy scores from years two and three was not significant (P = .37). Women were significantly more empathetic (mean = 5.05) at the time of matriculation than men (mean = 4.70, P = .0003), while both genders appeared to lose empathy in a parallel fashion during didactic training (P = .76). There was no association between empathy scores and prospective job category interest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings illustrate a decline in empathy among both genders during PA training, similar to other health care providers' educations, and support the need for further conversation regarding a role for empathy assessment and curricula in PA education.
authors: School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey 07079, USA. ellen.mandel@shu.edu
authors: Ellen D
authors: ED
authors: Mandel
authors: William E
authors: WE
authors: Schweinle
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004500:Education, Graduate; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult