“Puts You in Their Shoesâ€- Animated Comics to Remind Medical Students about Empathy
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Abstract
Background: Physician empathy is associated with improved clinical outcomes in diabetes care. However, empathy scores decline as medical students progress through their training. Animated comics may halt this decline.
Objective: To explore how animated comics depicting patients’ struggles with diabetes management affect learning processes for empathy in medical students.
Methods: All first- or second-year students at a Canadian medical school were invited to reflect on a clinical vignette and two online animated comics regarding insulin initiation and burnout. Semi-structured interviews in focus groups were conducted. Written and focus group responses were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach and inductive thematic analysis. Students also completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) at baseline, after the comic, and after the focus group. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA.
Results : Thirteen first-year and twelve second-year medical students participated in five focus groups. Qualitative analysis revealed three themes. 1) Comic characteristics: students appreciated the efficiency, clarity, visual effects and innovative nature of animated comics in conveying patient perspectives. 2) Impact of comic and focus group on knowledge, skills and attitude : students gained knowledge about the patient perspective and barriers and facilitators in self-management. They demonstrated observational and analytical skills in recognizing emotions and different communication styles. Students’ attitudes towards empathy changed with increased appreciation of the value of empathy. The focus group also served as a reminder of the importance of empathic communication and provided an opportunity for debriefing and validating students’ perspectives. 3) Knowledge-to-practice gap in empathy: students identified barriers for integrating empathy into clinical settings, a self-awareness of empathy decline from first to second year, yet struggled with balancing biomedical with psychosocial priorities and developing strategies to maintain empathy. Baseline mean JSPE scores were 116.4 (SD 10.5). After viewing the comics and after participating in the focus groups, scores trended up to 117.2 (SD 12.5) and 119.6 (SD 15.2), respectively (p=0.21).
Conclusions: Animated comic strips on diabetes management were well received by medical students. Comics and debriefing sessions are novel methods of reminding students about empathy by affecting knowledge, skills and attitudes, which may in term reduce physician burnout and improve patient outcomes. How best this can be integrated into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula to optimize their effectiveness is an area of future study.
Objective: To explore how animated comics depicting patients’ struggles with diabetes management affect learning processes for empathy in medical students.
Methods: All first- or second-year students at a Canadian medical school were invited to reflect on a clinical vignette and two online animated comics regarding insulin initiation and burnout. Semi-structured interviews in focus groups were conducted. Written and focus group responses were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach and inductive thematic analysis. Students also completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) at baseline, after the comic, and after the focus group. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA.
Results : Thirteen first-year and twelve second-year medical students participated in five focus groups. Qualitative analysis revealed three themes. 1) Comic characteristics: students appreciated the efficiency, clarity, visual effects and innovative nature of animated comics in conveying patient perspectives. 2) Impact of comic and focus group on knowledge, skills and attitude : students gained knowledge about the patient perspective and barriers and facilitators in self-management. They demonstrated observational and analytical skills in recognizing emotions and different communication styles. Students’ attitudes towards empathy changed with increased appreciation of the value of empathy. The focus group also served as a reminder of the importance of empathic communication and provided an opportunity for debriefing and validating students’ perspectives. 3) Knowledge-to-practice gap in empathy: students identified barriers for integrating empathy into clinical settings, a self-awareness of empathy decline from first to second year, yet struggled with balancing biomedical with psychosocial priorities and developing strategies to maintain empathy. Baseline mean JSPE scores were 116.4 (SD 10.5). After viewing the comics and after participating in the focus groups, scores trended up to 117.2 (SD 12.5) and 119.6 (SD 15.2), respectively (p=0.21).
Conclusions: Animated comic strips on diabetes management were well received by medical students. Comics and debriefing sessions are novel methods of reminding students about empathy by affecting knowledge, skills and attitudes, which may in term reduce physician burnout and improve patient outcomes. How best this can be integrated into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula to optimize their effectiveness is an area of future study.
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