The Devil is in the Third Year: A Longitudinal Study of Erosion of Empathy in Medical School

This longitudinal study was designed to examine changes in medical students' empathy during medical school and to determine when the most significant changes occur.Four hundred fifty-six students who entered Jefferson Medical College in 2002 (n = 227) and 2004 (n = 229) completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy at five different times: at entry into medical school on orientation day and subsequently at the end of each academic year....