Research says yes:

When tested for empathy, medical students at baseline generally scored higher than their nonmedical peers. But, as medical students experienced more burnout, there was a corresponding drop in the level of empathy toward patients.

Pauline Chen writes about the possibility that the more empathic potential doctors may be the ones most vulnerable to burnout in medical school.

It’s why more support is needed to help medical students through the grueling training process.

For those suffering through the pre-clinical years of school, I found that things got much better during clinical rotations the last two years.

And even though residency was tough hours-wise, I had a good time as it was much closer to what I envisioned myself doing today.

topics: medical school, empathy