A study on the association between mindfulness, empathy and patient-centredness in Italian medical students

Context: Recent research has shown that there is a change of medical students’ empathy and caring attitude during internship experience and that mindfulness – the quality of being fully present and attentive in the moment – facilitates a variety of well-being outcomes for healthcare professionals. Objective: This study was designed to examine changes in a sample of Italian medical students’ empathy during medical school and to assess whether mindfulness was associated with empathy and patient-centeredness of a sample of Italian medical students. Method: One hundred thirty students who entered the School of Medicine of Milano-Bicocca University in 2010 completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy – Student Version (JSPE-S) and Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) at two different times: at the beginning of second and fifth academic year. Two hundred seventy-three 2nd year students (female=151) who entered the School of Medicine of the University of Milano-Bicocca in 2012 (n=141) and 2013 (n=132) completed the JSPE-S, the PPOS and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) at the beginning of the academic year. Results: Our research hypotheses were confirmed: there was a change of medical students’ empathy and patient-centeredness during internship experience and mindfulness facet scores were associated with medical students’ empathy and patient-centeredness scores. Conclusions: Internship experience in the hospital wards seems to have a positive impact on empathy and attitudes towards patients. Mindfulness for the medical student include an understanding of patients as not merely objects of care and an awareness of the patients’ (and their own) emotions.