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Aim and Background: Empathy has an important role in better health results, customer satisfaction, improved physician-patient relationship, prevention of job burnout among physicians, and possible patient complaints from doctors. This study aims to evaluate the level of empathy with patients among the faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted on medical sciences faculty physicians with different specialties at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2013. The participants were selected through census sampling method. The Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy (JSPPPE) was distributed among 278 physicians via e-mail or in person. Only 73 questionnaires were completed and returned. The collected data were analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis in SPSS software. All P values < 0.05 were considered as significant. Findings: The highest and lowest average empathy scores were observed in nephrology professors and neurosurgery and radiology professors, respectively. After the categorization of the various disciplines into three groups of surgery, non-surgery, and psychiatry, the highest empathy score was observed in the group of psychiatry professors, followed by the non-surgical and surgical groups (P = 0.045). Conclusions: Empathy with patients differed among physicians of different disciplines of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. They did not show empathy and cooperation with their students in completing the questionnaire presented to them.

Keywords: Empathy, Medical sciences faculty physicians, Patients

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