Empathy unlocked: Enhancing Emotional Intelligence Skills using Communication Workshop for Undergraduates Medical and Dental Students.

Abstract

Empathy is considered as a basic skill, if patient care is to be improved. Published literature showed that with academic progress from 1st year to final year, overall, there is a decline in empathy among undergraduates. Emerging evidence suggest that by stimulating emotional intelligence, we can improve empathy more effectively when compared to solely relying upon cognitive method of teaching.1 Review of the literature showed that in some way or other empathy may be taught“.2-5 Many ways to teach empathy has been proposed these includes; “improving interpersonal skills, audio or video-taping of encounters with patients, exposure to role model, role playing (aging game), shadowing a patient (patient navigator), hospitalisation experiences, studying literature and the arts, improving narrative skills, theatrical performances, and by discussing cases/clinical situation which has aroused feelings among students known as Balint method”. Among this interpersonal commination was addressed more in detail by Davis4 by developing Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) that identified multidimensional approach towards empathy and also ways how empathy may be improved. Different aspects of empathy and ways how it may be improved were best address by Krznaric et al.5 He identified 6 habits of highly empathic peoples and ways how these habits allow these empathic peoples to connect them with others very nicely.
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