Lost in translation: a qualitative study of medical students' experiences of theoretical and practical teaching of empathy.

Background: Empathy has proven to be a fundamental component in the patient-doctor relationship and correlates to several positive outcomes in patient care. Despite this, research suggests that empathy decreases during medical education. To increase the understanding of empathy development during medical education, this study explores medical students' experiences of learning empathy in the transition from theoretical to practical context.

Prospective study of antidepressant treatment of psychiatric patients with depressive disorders: treatment adequacy and outcomes.

Background: Despite numerous national depression care guidelines (DCGs), suboptimal antidepressant treatment may occur. We examined DCG concordance and depression treatment outcomes in psychiatric settings.

Methods: We evaluated treatment received and outcomes of 128 psychiatric out- and inpatients participating in the PEGAD (Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacogenetics of Antidepressant Treatment for Depressive Disorders) study at baseline, two weeks, and eight weeks using interviews and questionnaires.

When theory meets reality- a mismatch in communication: a qualitative study of clinical transition from communication skills training to the surgical ward.

Background: Communication skills training in patient centered communication is an integral part of the medical undergraduate education and has been shown to improve various components of communication. While the effects of different educational interventions have been investigated, little is known about the transfer from theoretical settings to clinical practice in the context of communication skills courses not integrated in the clinical curriculum. Most studies focus on single factors affecting transfer without considering the comprehensive perspective of the students themselves.

Empathy as a silent art-A doctor´s daily balancing act: A qualitative study of senior doctors' experiences of empathy.

Empathy in the doctor-patient relationship is of great importance and has long been considered a true professional virtue for doctors. Despite the general agreement concerning the importance of empathy, there is no consensus regarding the definition of empathy in medical research. While several quantitative studies, measuring empathy as an individual trait, show a decline in empathy among medical students, other studies have shown that empathy is influenced by contextual factors as well as the availability of role models.

"It is through body language and looks, but it is also a feeling" - a qualitative study on medical interns' experience of empathy.

Background: Empathy has long been recognized as a fundamental part of the professionalism of doctors and is considered to be both necessary and beneficial to doctor-patient relationships, although empathy is notoriously difficult to define and measure. Previous research on empathy has mostly consisted of quantitative studies measuring and evaluating empathy levels in students or medical residents. The aim of our qualitative study was to explore the lived experience of empathy among medical interns in Sweden.