Use of Theater to Invoke Empathy and Reduce Bias in Medical Students

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Medical Student Bias
• Interventions: Behavioral: Dramatic Reading; Behavioral: Medical Lecture

• Registration Number: NCT01739257
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, Davis

Brief Summary

The effect of medical humanities on medical student bias and clinical management is unclear. This study characterized medical student attitudes toward obese individuals and whether reading a play employing empathic characters can modulate negative reactions.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2012-08
• Primary Completion: 2012-10
• Study Completion: 2012-11
• Study First Submitted: 2012-11-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-11-28
• Study First Posted: 2012-12-03
• Status Verified: 2023-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-04-09
• Last Update Posted: 2023-04-11

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 129

Inclusion Criteria

• medical student at UC Davis, UC Irvine, or Mayo Medical School

Exclusion Criteria

• none

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Theater	Dramatic Reading	1-hour dramatic reading of "The Most Massive Woman Wins"
Lecture	Medical Lecture	1-hour lecture on the medical management of obese patients

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Explicit fat bias	four months	Assessment of conscious bias against fat people (unit of measure from 11 to 99).
empathy scale	four months	Score of Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) from 20 to 180.
implicit fat bias	four months	Measurement using the implicit association test (IAT) with scores from -2.0 to +2.0.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Appraisal of obesity	four months	An open-ended question asking participants whether they felt obesity was primarily an issue of discrimination (ie: civil rights) or a public health concern (ie: medical).
Patient-Centered Care	four months	Open-ended question on the clinical management of an asymptomatic, obese, elderly woman who is otherwise healthy, with coding for a response that is either patient-centered (ie: asking patient preferences and goals) or prescriptive (ie: telling the patient to diet and/or exercise).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UC Davis School of Medicine; 🇺🇸 Sacramento, California, United States