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Relationship between increased personal well-being and enhanced empathy among

Internal medicine residents

  • Original Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: While resident distress and its potential to negatively effect patient care have been well documented, little is known about resident well-being or its potential to enhance care.

OBJECTIVE: We measured resident well-being and explored its relationship with empathy.

DESIGN: Anonymous, cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS: Internal medicine residents at Mayo Clinic Rochester (n=165, summer 2003).

MEASUREMENTS: Well-being was measured using the previously validated Medical Outcomes Study 8-item Short Form (SF-8). Empathy was measured using the previously validated Perspective Taking (PT) and Empathetic Concerns (EC) Sub-scales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI).

RESULTS: Eighty-three (50%) residents responded to the survey. Mean scores for well-being as measured by the SF-8 were comparable to the general population, and empathy scores on the IRI were similar to other resident samples. Resident empathy on both the cognitive (PT) and emotive (EC) sub-scales of the IRI was higher for residents with higher mental well-being on the SF-8; however, this difference was statistically significant only for the cognitive sub-scale. The importance of a number of personal wellness promotion strategies differed for residents with higher mental well-being on the SF-8.

CONCLUSIONS: High mental well-being was associated with enhanced resident empathy in this cross-sectional survey. Future studies need to explore the potential for high resident well-being to enhance medical care and competency in addition to exploring the negative consequences of resident distress. Studies investigating how to promote resident well-being are needed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, USA

    Tait D. Shanafelt MD, Colin West MD, PhD, Joseph Kolars MD & Thomas Habermann MD

  2. Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, USA

    Tait D. Shanafelt MD & Thomas Habermann MD

  3. Cancer Center Statistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, USA

    Xinghua Zhao MS, Paul Novotny MS & Jeff Sloan PhD

  4. Division of Gastroenterology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, USA

    Joseph Kolars MD

Authors
  1. Tait D. Shanafelt MD
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  2. Colin West MD, PhD
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  3. Xinghua Zhao MS
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  4. Paul Novotny MS
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  5. Joseph Kolars MD
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  6. Thomas Habermann MD
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  7. Jeff Sloan PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tait D. Shanafelt MD.

Additional information

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

This study was funded through institutional grants from the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine MIDAS Program. The investigators received financial support from the Mayo Clinic.

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Shanafelt, T.D., West, C., Zhao, X. et al. Relationship between increased personal well-being and enhanced empathy among. J GEN INTERN MED 20, 559–564 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-005-0102-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-005-0102-8

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