Purpose
Recent studies have emphasized the importance of empathy in the physician-patient relationship (PPR). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between empathy scores, as measured by the student version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Korean edition (JSE-S-K), and PPR scores on the clinical performance examination (CPX).
Methods
The sample comprised 104 third-year medical students. Prior to undertaking 12 cases on the CPX, the students completed the JSE-S-K and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. We analyzed the differences in empathy and PPR scores according to their sociodemographic characteristics and personality types and verified the link between empathy and PPR scores by stepwise multiple linear regression analysis.
Results
PPR scores were positively associated with total JSE-S-K scores (r=0.232, p<0.05) and its affective domain scores (r=0.229, p<0.05). Education program (undergraduate or graduate entry) and empathy score were the best predictors of PPR score (R²=0.153).
Conclusion
The positive association between empathy and PPR scores suggests that empathy is an important factor that influences the PPR.

PURPOSE
Patient-centered care is one of the most important factors of high-quality medical care. Medical educators have been increasingly interested in education for patient-centered care. This study was conducted to guide such education by assessing the patient-centeredness of medical students in a real patient encounter and a standardized patient encounter on the clinical performance examination (CPX).
METHODS
During the first semester of 2010 and 2011, fourth-year medical students in a clinical clerkship interviewed outpatients who visited the Department of Family Medicine. The interviews were videotaped, 25 of which were selected for study. We searched the 25 students' CPX videotapes that were recorded in the same year for comparison. The patient-centeredness of the students was assessed by measure of patient-centered communication (MPCC).
RESULTS
The inter-rater reliability of the MPCC was 0.89 when measuring real patient encounters. MPCC scores of 25 students were very low for both real patients (mean, 28.8; range, 8.2~53.1) and for standardized patients (mean, 27.5; range, 8.2~52.7), and there was no significant difference between two groups. The component 1 MPCC scores were significantly higher for real patient encounters compared with those of CPX encounters (0.28 vs 0.18, p=0.0001). The component 2, 3 MPCC scores of two groups were not different each other.
CONCLUSION
Medical educators must emphasize the importance of exploring a patient's illness and social background and involving them in making a diagnosis and treatment plan for patient-centered care. They should give students more opportunities to interview real patients and diversify scenarios for standardized patients.