SynthesisBMC medical education2023
Educational efficacy of medical humanities in empathy of medical students and healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Arts-based empathy education in healthcare: a critical systematic review of pedagogical mechanisms and evidence gaps.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- An integrated teaching model combining PBL and medical humanities education for pathology laboratory teaching: a randomized controlled study.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- A scoping review on the use of virtual patients for enhancing empathy in medical students.Medical education online · 2026Article
- Teaching and learning medical humanities in medical school: a student's perspective on professional practice curriculum in Australia.Monash bioethics review · 2026Article
- Bridging the Gap in Humanizing Oncology: A Pilot Study on the Feasibility and Acceptability of the CIPOMO School of Medical Humanities Training Protocol.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Psychodrama-based versus lecture-based approaches in medical empathy education: a gender-comparative study of effects on empathy traits and communication attitudes.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Evaluating a corpus-based intervention in medical English writing: a mixed-methods study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Learning to listen: mixed-methods study of medical students' perspectives on communication training.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Integrating health humanities in medical education: a narrative scoping review of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and global perspectives.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2026Review
- Cultivating Empathy through Visual Thinking Strategy Workshops for Medical Students and Residents: A Mixed-Methods Study.Yonago acta medica · 2026Article
- From motivation to meaning in medical humanities: a mixed-methods study of Chinese medical students' value internalization.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Role of humanities in medical curricula in the South-East Asia region: a scoping review.Humanities & social sciences communications · 2026Review
- Fostering empathy in healthcare: impact of a simulation-based educational program on professionals' relational skills.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Perceived value, structural barriers, and academic burnout under the "hard science vs. soft skills" paradox: a cross-sectional study among Chinese medical students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A dialectical lens for AI and medical humanities: advancing responsible augmented humanism in Digital Public Health.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Latent profile analysis of compassion fatigue and its relationship with humanistic care ability among psychiatric nurses in Henan Province.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- An Exploratory Study of the Effects of a High School-University Collaborative Program on Learning Motivation and Professional Understanding among Students Aspiring to Enter Medical School.Juntendo medical journal · 2026Article
- The current state of defensive medicine and its association with empathy: a cross-sectional study among graduate students in Guangxi, China.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Synergy between resilience and empathy in health sciences students: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- In love with medical humanities! A survey on medical students' opinions and satisfaction with an integrated elective course.BMC medical education · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical humanities education is an important part of medical education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of medical humanities in improving empathy among medical students and healthcare professionals.
methodsPubMed, Embase, EBSCO-ERIC, Web of Science were searched systematically for studies in the English language. The last retrieval date is May 1, 2023. Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) Global Rating Scale and Kirkpatrick-based results were used to evaluate the quality of literature. In this study, a meta-analysis of continuous data was conducted.
resultsThe pooled results by single-arm test meta-analysis showed a benefit with medical humanities programs in empathy (SMD 1.33; 95% CI 0.69-1.96). For single-arm trials of medical humanities program interventions of less than 4 months, 4 months to 12 months, and more than one year, the standardized mean differences(SMD) between post-test and pre-test were 1.74 (P < 0.05), 1.26 (P < 0.05), and 0.13 (P = 0.46), respectively. The results showed a significant difference in the effect of medical humanities programs on male and female empathy (SMD - 1.10; 95% CI -2.08 - -0.13). The SMDs for the study of course, the course combined reflective writing, and the course combined reflective writing and practice as intervention modalities for medical humanities programs were 1.15 (P < 0.05), 1.64 (P < 0.05), and 1.50 (P < 0.05), respectively.
conclusionMedical humanities programs as a whole can improve the empathy of medical students and health professionals. However, different intervention durations and different intervention methods produce different intervention effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.