Role of narrative medicine-based education in cultivating empathy in residents

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of narrative medicine-based education in standardized empathy training for residents. METHODS: Among the 2018–2020 residents at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, 230 receiving neurology training were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into study and control groups. The study group received narrative medicine-based education and standardized routine resident training. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy–Medical Student version (JSE–MS) was used to evaluate empathy in the study group, and the neurological professional knowledge test scores of the two groups were also compared. RESULTS: In the study group, the empathy score was higher than the preteaching score (P < 0.01). The neurological professional knowledge examination score was higher in the study group than in the control group, albeit not significantly. CONCLUSION: The addition of narrative medicine-based education in standardized training improved empathy and may have improved the professional knowledge of neurology residents.