Although empathy is widely recognized as an important trait for healthcare professionals, little research has examined empathy attributes in genetic counselors. Decreases in empathy levels have been recognized in other healthcare professionals over the span of their professional education program. This research sought to characterize empathy levels in first‐ and second‐year genetic counseling students and recent (2017) graduates, and to determine whether there are differences in empathy levels displayed by genetic counseling students at different points in their training. Additionally, this research examined whether experiences prior to graduate school, including specific aspects of advocacy experience, correlated with differences in self‐reported empathy levels among genetic counseling students and new genetic counselors. An online survey was administered to first‐ and second‐year genetic counseling students and practicing genetic counselors to determine whether there were differences in empathy levels between these groups, and to analyze for associations between pre‐graduate school advocacy work and levels of empathy as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). We identified significant differences in self‐reported empathy levels in several of the subscales of the IRI between first‐year students and second‐year students, and between first‐year students and recent graduates. Furthermore, we identified significantly lower scores on the personal distress subscale of the IRI in participants who engaged in advocacy work for longer than 12 months when compared to participants who engaged in advocacy work for between 6 and 12 months. Other advocacy and educational characteristics were also examined for correlations with IRI scores, and no significant associations were identified between these additional factors and self‐reported empathy scores. Practice implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

中文翻译：

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探索遗传咨询学生和新遗传咨询师的同理心

尽管同理心被广泛认为是医疗保健专业人员的一个重要特征，但很少有研究检查遗传咨询师的同理心属性。在其他医疗保健专业人员的专业教育计划中，他们已经认识到同理心水平的下降。本研究旨在表征一年级和二年级遗传咨询学生和最近（2017 年）毕业生的共情水平，并确定遗传咨询学生在不同培训阶段表现出的共情水平是否存在差异。此外，这项研究检查了研究生之前的经历，包括倡导经历的特定方面，是否与遗传咨询学生和新遗传咨询师之间自我报告的同理心水平的差异相关。对一年级和二年级遗传咨询学生和执业遗传咨询师进行了一项在线调查，以确定这些群体之间的同理心水平是否存在差异，并分析研究生学校宣传工作与所测量的同理心水平之间的关联人际反应指数 (IRI)。我们发现一年级学生和二年级学生之间以及一年级学生和应届毕业生之间在 IRI 的几个分量表中自我报告的同理心水平存在显着差异。此外，我们发现，与从事倡导工作 6 至 12 个月的参与者相比，从事倡导工作超过 12 个月的参与者在 IRI 的个人痛苦分量表上的得分明显较低。还检查了其他倡导和教育特征与 IRI 分数的相关性，并没有发现这些额外因素与自我报告的同理心分数之间存在显着关联。讨论了实践意义和对未来研究的建议。