Evaluation of empathy and sense of integrity in medical students

Summary Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the concepts of empathy, sense of coherence, and self-esteem in medical students. The study aims to contribute to the literature by determining physician empathy, sense of coherence, self-esteem, and related factors. Materials and Methods: Our study is a cross-sectional analytical study and was conducted with 624 students at Afyonkarahisar University Faculty of Medicine between 15.04.2023 and 01.07.2023. After explaining the purpose of the research to the participants and obtaining their verbal consent, the survey form was administered online to those who agreed to participate. In the study, a survey form prepared by us, which queries socio-demographic information, and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Student Version, Sense of Coherence Scale-Short Form, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26, and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The students who participated in the study are in the 18-29 age range. 40.2% of the participants (n=251) are male, and 59.8% (n=373) are female. 19.2% of the participants (n=120) are in the 1st year, 16.5% (n=103) in the 2nd year, 14.9% (n=93) in the 3rd year, 16.8% (n=105) in the 4th year, 15.5% (n=97) in the 5th year, and 17% (n=106) in the 6th year. In the inter-class assessment, for the sub-dimension of showing compassion in the JSPE, the score of the 1st-year students was statistically significantly lower than that of the 5th and 6th-year students, and the score of the 3rd-year students was statistically significantly lower than that of the 5th and 6th-year students. In the sub-dimension of putting oneself in the patient's shoes, the score of the 1st-year students was statistically significantly lower than that of the 6th-year students. There was a statistically significant negative moderate relationship between the Rosenberg self-esteem scale score and the comprehensibility sub-dimension of the sense of coherence scale (r=-0.343; p<0.0001), a statistically significant negative moderate relationship between the manageability sub-dimension of the sense of coherence scale (r=-0.390; p<0.0001), a statistically significant weak negative relationship in the meaningfulness sub-dimension (r=-0.197; p<0.0001), and a statistically significant negative moderate relationship between the total score of the sense of coherence (r=-0.397; p<0.0001). There was a weak significant negative relationship between the sub-total score of "putting oneself in the patient's shoes" in the empathy scale and the sub-total score of meaningfulness in the sense of coherence (r=0.116; p=0.004). No relationship was found between other scale and sub-dimension scores. Conclusion: In our study, the sense of coherence, self-esteem, and related factors were examined, and it was concluded that these three concepts need to be developed in medical students and awareness needs to be created about them. For individuals who can communicate well with patients, show empathy, are physically healthy, and can also encourage others to be healthy, these concepts need to be addressed and developed. Keywords: JSPE, RSES, SOC13, self-esteem, sense of coherence, empathy.