title: Empathy and burnout among physicians of different specialities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the level of empathy and burnout among physicians of different specialization, as well as to determine whether a correlation existed between the level of empathy and burnout.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one physicians took part in the study - 25 women (35.2%) and 46 men (age between 25 to 68 years). The physicians were either employed in hospitals, outpatient clinics or university departments in Krakow. The participants were asked to fill out a personal questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Emotional Empathy Scale (EES) as well as describe four chosen tables from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average empathy score for the whole group was 14.3 (SD ± 6.4). The average levels of each of the burnout (according to MBI) elements for the whole group were 21.72 for emotional exhaustion, 9.62 for depersonalization and 29.07 for loss of personal accomplishment. For the whole group a negative correlation was noted between loss of personal accomplishment (according to MBI) and the level of empathy (according to EES) (r = -0.23, p <0.05). For the whole group negative correlations were noted between the level of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and the total level of burnout (according to MBI) and the level of empathy (according to TAT) (r = -0.30, p <0.05; r = -0.39, p <0.01; p = -0.32, p <0.01 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Concluding, medical specialists have a significantly higher level of empathy than surgeons and family physicians. It is imperative to remember that increasing depersonalization and emotional exhaustion can have a negative impact on empathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Basics and Theory, Institute of Nursing and Obstetrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Walocha
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. krzysztof.tomaszewski@uj.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Krzysztof A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Tomaszewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Basics and Theory, Institute of Nursing and Obstetrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wilczek-Ruzyczka
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walocha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003861:Depersonalization / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004645:Empathy; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires