Title : The effect of balint training on self-efficacy and empathy among medical students and the moderator role of personality traits and choice of specialty
Abstract:
The study was designed to establish and evaluate the impact of a Balint training course on empathy and self-efficacy in fourth-year medical students during their clinical experience. Several potential moderators of the relationship were also examined, including openness to experience and agreeableness as personality traits, and specialty choice. Balint training seminars were designed for better understanding the doctor-patient relationships (Yazdankhahfard, Haghani., & Omid 2019).
Dr. Michael Balint believed that therapists, in addition to their professional medical expertise, need to have personality traits and skills to develop a good rapport with their patients (Stelcer, 2011). Therefore, he built the Balint training program to help general practitioners improve the doctor-patient relationship and achieve a more meaningful understanding of their patients (Salinky, 2004). Finally, the present study examined how the instructors perceive the training process in relation to improving the skills of the doctor-patient relationship. In summary, the research included two studies: the first one was a prospective study that used the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Student Version and the GSES- General Self-Efficacy Scale before and after Balint training, and the short scale of Big 5 personality traits. The participants were also asked to identify their preferred field of specialization. In study 2, the 21 Balint training instructors completed a qualitative assessment of their training experience at the end of the course. Data from 102 out of 162 participants were analyzed: The results showed a significant improvement in self-efficacy and empathy after Balint training. The instructors saw a connection between the personality traits of the students and their benefit from the training. Of the sample, 15 instructors (71%) thought that students with more openness would benefit more than others.
In contrast, 6 instructors (19%) answered that students without good communication skills and more introverted students will benefit more than the others because their basic level has a wider range of available improvement. As regards the choice of the field of specialization, 9 of the facilitators (42%) answered that there is a connection between the choice of the field of specialization and the benefit from Balint meetings. Our findings suggest that we should encourage training initiatives designed to help young medical students consider the emotional component of a doctor-patient relationship. The results of this study demonstrated that the empathy and self-efficacy of Balint groups can be significantly improved through the weeks of Balint group training.
