title: Empathic orientation among medical students from three universities in Barranquilla, Colombia and one university in the Dominican Republic.
abstract: To compare empathic orientation among medical students from three schools of medicine in Colombia and one in the Dominican Republic.
  
  
  
  Empathic orientation of medical students was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), Spanish version for students (the "S" version) validated in Mexico and Chile, and culturally adapted to Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Data were compared using a three-factor analysis of variance (model III) and a discriminant analysis.
  
  
  
  No differences in empathic orientation were observed among courses and between sexes, but differences were found in schools of medicine considered as a unit in each studied country.
  
  
  
  Empathic orientation levels tend to reduce as courses advance. This was observed in both male and female students and in all schools analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Postgrado, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Víctor Patricio
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Díaz Narváez
authors.affiliation: División Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia.
authors.forename: Luz Marina
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Alonso Palacio
authors.affiliation: División Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia.
authors.forename: Sara Elvira
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Caro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Central del Este, República Dominicana.
authors.forename: María Guadalupe
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Central del Este, República Dominicana.
authors.forename: Joel Arboleda
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Libre Seccional Barranquilla.
authors.forename: Jorge Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bilbao
authors.affiliation: Sede Puerto Colombia, Fundación Universitaria San Martín, Barranquilla, Colombia.
authors.forename: Jesús Iglesias
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Acosta
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003105:Colombia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004293:Dominican Republic; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*