(74) Impact of an eCase Intervention on Empathy in Doctor of Pharmacy Students

Objective : This study aimed to assess the effects of incorporating an interactive, digital day-in-the-life patient case (eCase) into the curriculum to enhance empathy in first-year Doctor of Pharmacy Students.

Methods: An eCase was developed to simulate a typical day managing diabetes from the patient's perspective. The eCase prompted students to engage in decision-making regarding diet, medication adherence, and blood glucose monitoring, while navigating challenges related to resources and social determinants of health. First-year pharmacy students were invited to participate in the study by completing pre- and post-intervention surveys, including the Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale (KCES) and questions assessing student empathy towards patients with chronic conditions. Changes in student responses from pre- to post-intervention were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank sum test.

Results: 145 students completed the pre- and post-intervention surveys. Overall KCES scores (range 15-105) showed a significant improvement of 3.6 points following engagement with the eCase from 84.5± 8.7 on the pre-survey to 88± 8.8 on the post-survey (p < 0.0001). Both the cognitive and affective domain scores on the KCES showed significant improvement from pre- to post-intervention. Student empathy towards patients with chronic conditions (range 7-49) also significantly increased by 1.4 points from 35.7±4.8 to 37.1±5.9 (p < 0.0001), with the largest magnitude changes in items addressing adherence to prescribed regimens.

Conclusions: The use of an eCase led to improved empathy, comparable to other interventions assessed by the KCES. Increased empathy towards patients with chronic conditions, especially regarding patient adherence, underscores the importance of empathy in the pharmacist-patient relationship. These findings highlight the potential for incorporating digital tools into pharmacy education to cultivate empathy.