Early clinical exposure is associated with higher empathy scores regardless of gender and academic year¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-31 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Medical students displayed significantly higher mean empathy scores (JSE-student version) after ECE, in both first- and second-year students and both male and female students. → Shaban Eman E. 2025

Evidence¶

Shaban Eman E. 2025¶

Shaban Eman E., Elmelliti Hussam, Shaban Amira, Shaban Ahmed, Zaki Hany A. (2025). Impact of early clinical exposure on medical students’ competency development: a systematic review of evidence from Asian and African countries. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-08103-9

q2 · i? · associational · r2

One cross-sectional study (Ye et al., China) synthesized narratively: "significantly higher mean empathy scores" after ECE, with no significant differences by sex or academic year. No effect size printed.

"medical students displayed significantly higher mean empathy scores (measured by the JSE-student version) after ECE compared to the whole sample population before ECE"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Social Awareness and Relationship Skills — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Early clinical exposure increases medical knowledge test scores and motivates learning — related
• Early clinical exposure improves the clinical skills of medical students compared with traditional teaching — related
• Empathy was assessed primarily through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews; only two studies used objective indicators such as facial emotion recognition — related
• Early clinical exposure significantly improves dental students' overall competency compared with traditional teaching (SMD = 1.25), though evidence certainty is low — related
• Students perceive that early clinical exposure improves problem-solving and confidence, and many redefine their understanding of professionalism — related
• Evidence that emotional competence improves patient outcomes is limited and mixed — related
• Most medical students report that early clinical exposure improves their communication skills — related
• ECE benefits both junior and senior preclinical dental students, with a larger pooled effect in junior students — related
• Early clinical exposure in undergraduate dental education shows evidence of effectiveness in knowledge, psychomotor skills, and affective domains — related
• Early preclinical exposure group outperformed late exposure group on theory, OSCE communication, and empathy measures — related