Measurement and correlates of empathy among female Japanese physicians.

BACKGROUND: The measurement of empathy is important in the assessment of physician competence and patient outcomes. The prevailing view is that female physicians have higher empathy scores compared with male physicians. In Japan, the number of female physicians has increased rapidly in the past ten years. In this study, we focused on female Japanese physicians and addressed factors that were associated with their empathic engagement in patient care. METHODS: The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was translated into Japanese by using the back-translation procedure, and was administered to 285 female Japanese physicians. We designed this study to examine the psychometrics of the JSE and group differences among female Japanese physicians. RESULTS: The item-total score correlations of the JSE were all positive and statistically significant, ranging from .20 to .54, with a median of .41. The Cronbach\u27s coefficient alpha was .81. Female physicians who were practicing in people-oriented specialties obtained a significantly higher mean empathy score than their counterparts in procedure- or technology-oriented specialties. In addition, physicians who reported living with their parents in an extended family or living close to their parents, scored higher on the JSE than those who were living alone or in a nuclear family. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide support for the measurement property and reliability of the JSE in a sample of female Japanese physicians. The observed group differences associated with specialties and living arrangement may have implications for sustaining empathy. In addition, recognizing these factors that reinforce physicians\u27 empathy may help physicians to avoid career burnout

The effect of Humanitude care methodology on improving empathy: a six-year longitudinal study of medical students in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Empathy, which involves understanding another person\u27s experiences and concerns, is an important component for developing physicians\u27 overall competence. This longitudinal study was designed to test the hypothesis that medical students\u27 empathy can be enhanced and sustained by Humanitude Care Methodology, which focuses on perception, emotion and speech. METHODS: This six-year longitudinal observational study examined 115 students who entered Okayama University Medical School in 2013. The study participants were exposed to two empathy-enhancing programs: (1) a communication skills training program (involving medical interviews) and (2) a Humanitude training program aimed at enhancing their empathy. They completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) seven times: when they entered medical school, before participation in the first program (medical interview), immediately after the first program, before the second program (Humanitude exercise), immediately after the second program, and in the 5th and 6th year (last year) of medical school. A total of 79 students (69% of the cohort) completed all seven test administrations of the JSE. RESULTS: The mean JSE scores improved significantly after participation in the medical interview program (p \u3c 0.01) and the Humanitude training program (p = 0.001). However, neither program showed a sustained effect. CONCLUSIONS: The Humanitude training program as well as medical interview training program, had significant short-term positive effects for improving empathy among medical students. Additional reinforcements may be necessary for a long-term sustained effect

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C

Measurement and correlates of empathy among female Japanese physicians

Abstract Background The measurement of empathy is important in the assessment of physician competence and patient outcomes. The prevailing view is that female physicians have higher empathy scores compared with male physicians. In Japan, the number of female physicians has increased rapidly in the past ten years. In this study, we focused on female Japanese physicians and addressed factors that were associated with their empathic engagement in patient care. Methods The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was translated into Japanese by using the back-translation procedure, and was administered to 285 female Japanese physicians. We designed this study to examine the psychometrics of the JSE and group differences among female Japanese physicians. Results The item-total score correlations of the JSE were all positive and statistically significant, ranging from .20 to .54, with a median of .41. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was .81. Female physicians who were practicing in “people-oriented” specialties obtained a significantly higher mean empathy score than their counterparts in “procedure-” or “technology-oriented” specialties. In addition, physicians who reported living with their parents in an extended family or living close to their parents, scored higher on the JSE than those who were living alone or in a nuclear family. Conclusions Our results provide support for the measurement property and reliability of the JSE in a sample of female Japanese physicians. The observed group differences associated with specialties and living arrangement may have implications for sustaining empathy. In addition, recognizing these factors that reinforce physicians’ empathy may help physicians to avoid career burnout.</p

Eleven years of data on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - medical student version: Japanese norm data and tentative cutoff scores

Background More and more studies investigate medical students' empathy using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE). However, no norm data or cutoff scores of the JSE for Japanese medical students are available. This study therefore explored Japanese norm data and tentative cutoff scores for the Japanese translation of the JSE-medical student version (JSE-S) using 11 years of data obtained from matriculants from a medical school in Japan. MethodsParticipants were 1,216 students (836 men and 380 women) who matriculated at a medical school in Japan from 2011 to 2021. The JSE-S questionnaire was administered to participants prior to the start of the program. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and statistical tests were performed to show the norm data and tentative cutoff scores for male and female students separately. ResultsThe score distributions of the JSE-S were moderately skewed and leptokurtic for the entire sample, with indices -0.75 and 4.78, respectively. The mean score (standard deviation) for all participants was 110.8 (11.8). Women had a significantly higher mean score (112.6) than men (110.0; p = 126, respectively, and the corresponding scores for women were = 128, respectively. Conclusions This study provides JSE-S norm data and tentative cutoff scores for Japanese medical school matriculants, which would be helpful in identifying those who may need further training to enhance their empathy

Eleven years of data on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy – medical student version: Japanese norm data and tentative cutoff scores

Abstract Background More and more studies investigate medical students’ empathy using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE). However, no norm data or cutoff scores of the JSE for Japanese medical students are available. This study therefore explored Japanese norm data and tentative cutoff scores for the Japanese translation of the JSE-medical student version (JSE-S) using 11 years of data obtained from matriculants from a medical school in Japan. Methods Participants were 1,216 students (836 men and 380 women) who matriculated at a medical school in Japan from 2011 to 2021. The JSE-S questionnaire was administered to participants prior to the start of the program. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and statistical tests were performed to show the norm data and tentative cutoff scores for male and female students separately. Results The score distributions of the JSE-S were moderately skewed and leptokurtic for the entire sample, with indices -0.75 and 4.78, respectively. The mean score (standard deviation) for all participants was 110.8 (11.8). Women had a significantly higher mean score (112.6) than men (110.0; p < 0.01). The effect size estimate of gender difference was 0.22, indicating a small effect size. The low and high cutoff scores for men were ≤ 91 and ≥ 126, respectively, and the corresponding scores for women were ≤ 97 and ≥ 128, respectively. Conclusions This study provides JSE-S norm data and tentative cutoff scores for Japanese medical school matriculants, which would be helpful in identifying those who may need further training to enhance their empathy