The Cognitive and Affective Empathy of Doctor of Physical Therapy Students vs. Specialty Choice

Purpose: This modified cross-sectional study was performed to determine which specialties DPT students desire to enter, and how affective and cognitive empathy is related to the specialty choice. There are two types of empathy: affective and cognitive. Affective empathy from an emotionally charged situation enters the CNS of a person first and is followed by a cognitive empathic response. Methods: Affective empathy was measured using the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) and cognitive empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professions Student (JSE-HPS) version. Each student was asked to indicate which specialty they desired to enter cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, musculoskeletal/orthopedics, neurology, or pediatrics. The cohort consisted of first, second, and third year DPT students during the 2021-2022 academic year. Each survey instrument was given to each cohort at the start and end of their respective academic year. Results: Most students, regardless of sex or program year, desired to enter a musculoskeletal/orthopedic specialty. Very few enter cardiopulmonary or geriatric specialties. The affective empathy scores of most specialties are at the population norm, except for students entering neurology and pediatrics where their BEES scores are considered "slightly high." For cognitive empathy scores, males who selected musculoskeletal/orthopedics or neurology had significantly lower JSE-HPS scores than females selecting neurology. Although there is no population norm for cognitive empathy, the JSE-HPS scores can be compared to those of third- and fourth-year osteopathic students in the nationwide Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE) study; in this case, the DPT graduates are at the 52nd percentile. Conclusions: Similar to other DPT programs, many students desire to enter musculoskeletal/orthopedics, with few selecting cardiopulmonary or geriatrics. Neurology attracts students with higher levels of affective and cognitive empathy. The relative homogeneity of cognitive empathy scores in the various DPT/Physiotherapy programs previously studied suggests similar cadres of students, regardless of where they originate, are being selected to enter the programs.