The Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) gives lecturers from Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) the opportunity to apply for a fellowship. With this fellowship, they research educational innovation, or carry out an educational project. On this page you can read more about the CLI Fellowship of Ida Korfage (Erasmus MC) about the societal involvement of medical students.
Patient-centeredness requires physicians to be open to different perspectives. Differences between medical students and their future patients in terms of age, health status, educational level, and cultural background can hinder patient-centeredness. During community projects, third-year medical students, working in groups of five to six, addressed a current issue posed by a (public health) organization. As part of this process, they conducted surveys or interviews with (potential) patients or healthcare providers. We developed six specific community projects in which students engaged with diverse perspectives, as well as with patients' questions, doubts, and preferences.
In December 2023, a total of 289 students completed a questionnaire (response rate: 79%). After the community projects, in March 2024, 357 students (98%) filled out the questionnaire. Of these, 281 students (77%) completed both questionnaires. The average empathy score changed from 45.5 before the project to 46.3 after the project (p=0.002). The level of empathy increased, particularly among medical students who had interacted with healthcare providers. Responses to the open-ended question indicated that students found interactions outside the hospital setting valuable.
We observed a significant change in empathy levels among medical students. We consider these results encouraging for further efforts to support the development of empathy.
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Ida J. Korfage is an associate professor of Quality of Life at Erasmus MC – University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She is an economist and epidemiologist by training. Her main research topic is the assessment of health-related quality of life in oncology, e.g. in the context of advance care planning. She undertakes and supervises quantitative, qualitative and methodological studies, with a focus on screening settings and decision-making processes. Her work was supported by various research grants, including a fellowship from the Dutch Cancer Society and research visits to the University of Bristol, the University of Michigan, and the University of British Columbia. She collaborates with many colleagues, researchers, and others, and she publishes peer-reviewed scientific articles in both methodological and medical journals.
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