Teaching Junior Medical Students About the Current Health Care System

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Relationships between scores on the Jefferson Scale of physician empathy, patient perceptions of physician empathy, and humanistic approaches to patient care: a validity study.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is the backbone of a positive physician-patient relationship. Physician empathy and the patient\u27s awareness of the physician\u27s empathic concern can lead to a more positive clinical outcome. MATERIAL/METHODS: The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was completed by 36 physicians in the Family Medicine residency program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and 90 patients evaluated these physicians by completing the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy (JSPPPE), and a survey about physicians\u27 humanistic approaches to patient care. RESULTS: A statistically significant correlation was found between scores of the JSPE and JSPPPE (r=0.48, p CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide further support for the validity of the JSPE. Implications for the assessments of empathy in the physician-patient relationship as related to clinical outcomes are discussed

The Changing Health Care Environment is Affecting the Specialty Selection of Students and Residents

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How Well Do Medical Students Understand the Consequences of the Debt They Are Accumulating?

No abstract available

JAMA Study on Jefferson\u27s Rural Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP)

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Lessons Learned as Thomas Jefferson University\u27s Rural Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP) Approaches the Half-Century Mark

To help increase the supply and retention of rural family physicians, Thomas Jefferson University initiated the Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP) in 1974. The program selectively admits medical school applicants who both grew up in a rural area and plan to practice in a rural area. During medical school, PSAP students have ongoing mentoring and rural clinical experiences. As the program now approaches the half-century mark, this commentary summarizes several important lessons learned. First, outcomes research is critical, and program leaders have been able to publish 15 papers and a book about the PSAP and its outcomes. Second, these studies have shown that the program has been highly successful, with PSAP graduates 8.5-9.9 times more likely to enter rural family medicine than their peers, and that the PSAP contributed 12% of all rural family physicians in Pennsylvania. Other similar medical school rural programs have had comparable success, with more than half of all graduates combined (including PSAP graduates) practicing rural. Third, long-term retention has a multiplicative impact. Long-term retention of PSAP graduates in rural family medicine was greater than 70% after 20-25 years. Fourth, research has shown that the admissions component accounted for approximately three-quarters of the PSAP\u27s success. Three factors available at the time of matriculation (rural background, plans for rural practice, and plans for family medicine) identified almost 80% of all Jefferson graduates in rural practice 3 decades later. Having a peer group with similar backgrounds, mentoring, and the rural curriculum were also very important. Fifth, wanting to live rural appears key to the rural practice decision. Finally, given that medical school programs like the PSAP produce substantial increases in the supply and retention of rural physicians while requiring modest resources, medical schools can have a critical role in addressing the rural physician shortage