Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal
Abstract Background Compassion, one of the items of empathy, is crucial in health care professions. So, the evaluation of the levels of compassion of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Master Degrees’ (M.D.) students of the public Colleges in Portugal according to the type of Master Deg...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03419-2 |
| _version_ | 1811342817812807680 |
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| author | Luiz Miguel Santiago Inês Rosendo Catarina Valente António Cruz Ferreira José Augusto Simões |
| author_facet | Luiz Miguel Santiago Inês Rosendo Catarina Valente António Cruz Ferreira José Augusto Simões |
| author_sort | Luiz Miguel Santiago |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Compassion, one of the items of empathy, is crucial in health care professions. So, the evaluation of the levels of compassion of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Master Degrees’ (M.D.) students of the public Colleges in Portugal according to the type of Master Degree and the participation in extracurricular activities (E.A.) was a task to be performed. Methods Cross-sectional study in 2020, applying an on-line questionnaire including the “Compassion” items of the Jefferson Medical Empathy Scale – Students’ version and questions about the participation in E.A. Results A sample of 901 students was studied. Its distribution by participation in E.A. did not differ significantly between M.D. (p = 0,854), most of the students participating in E.A. Using quartile distribution of compassion, the distribution of compassion levels was different among the three I.M. (p < 0.001), between Colleges (p < 0.001), and between curricular years (p < 0.001), with not different between genders (p = 0.036). For 56.4%, 74,6% and 69,5% of the respondents there was “medium-low” and “low” compassion for I.M. in Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Dentistry. These levels were also more prevalent among students in the 1st and 5th years. Levels of compassion were not different with the participation (p = 0,865), type (p = 0,177) and frequency of E.A. (p = 0,109). Conclusions For their importance in future health care professionals, compassion and their differences found among the M.Ds. of this area deserve future studies. Levels of compassion showed differences between the M.D. studied and academic years of frequency. There was no relationship between the participation, type, and frequency of E.A. and the students’ levels of compassion. The distribution of the level of compassion did not vary significantly with participation in E.A. (p = 0.865), with the type of E.A. (p = 0.177), with the frequency of E.A. (p = 0.109) or with the answer to the question “The practice of E.A. can make a person more compassionate?” (p = 0.503). |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:18:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-28303a6cd6b743e39717c130fad3d413 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:18:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-28303a6cd6b743e39717c130fad3d4132022-12-22T02:33:36ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-06-012211710.1186/s12909-022-03419-2Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in PortugalLuiz Miguel Santiago0Inês Rosendo1Catarina Valente2António Cruz Ferreira3José Augusto Simões4Faculty of Medicine of the University of CoimbraFaculty of Medicine of the University of CoimbraFaculty of Medicine of the University of CoimbraFaculty of Medicine of the University of CoimbraFaculty of Medicine of the University of CoimbraAbstract Background Compassion, one of the items of empathy, is crucial in health care professions. So, the evaluation of the levels of compassion of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Master Degrees’ (M.D.) students of the public Colleges in Portugal according to the type of Master Degree and the participation in extracurricular activities (E.A.) was a task to be performed. Methods Cross-sectional study in 2020, applying an on-line questionnaire including the “Compassion” items of the Jefferson Medical Empathy Scale – Students’ version and questions about the participation in E.A. Results A sample of 901 students was studied. Its distribution by participation in E.A. did not differ significantly between M.D. (p = 0,854), most of the students participating in E.A. Using quartile distribution of compassion, the distribution of compassion levels was different among the three I.M. (p < 0.001), between Colleges (p < 0.001), and between curricular years (p < 0.001), with not different between genders (p = 0.036). For 56.4%, 74,6% and 69,5% of the respondents there was “medium-low” and “low” compassion for I.M. in Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Dentistry. These levels were also more prevalent among students in the 1st and 5th years. Levels of compassion were not different with the participation (p = 0,865), type (p = 0,177) and frequency of E.A. (p = 0,109). Conclusions For their importance in future health care professionals, compassion and their differences found among the M.Ds. of this area deserve future studies. Levels of compassion showed differences between the M.D. studied and academic years of frequency. There was no relationship between the participation, type, and frequency of E.A. and the students’ levels of compassion. The distribution of the level of compassion did not vary significantly with participation in E.A. (p = 0.865), with the type of E.A. (p = 0.177), with the frequency of E.A. (p = 0.109) or with the answer to the question “The practice of E.A. can make a person more compassionate?” (p = 0.503).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03419-2CompassionStudentsHealth SciencesExtracurricular Activities |
| spellingShingle | Luiz Miguel Santiago Inês Rosendo Catarina Valente António Cruz Ferreira José Augusto Simões Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal BMC Medical Education Compassion Students Health Sciences Extracurricular Activities |
| title | Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal |
| title_full | Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal |
| title_fullStr | Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal |
| title_short | Compassion and extracurricular activities of Portuguese Health Sciences students in Portugal |
| title_sort | compassion and extracurricular activities of portuguese health sciences students in portugal |
| topic | Compassion Students Health Sciences Extracurricular Activities |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03419-2 |
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