Empathy in dental education: a cross-sectional comparative study among undergraduate and postgraduate students in Iran

Abstract

Empathy plays a critical role in effective dentist–patient communication and high-quality care. However, its development during dental education remains inconsistent across studies and contexts. A total of 132 dental students and residents (50% male; 22.8% married; 31.8% postgraduate) completed the validated Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, assessing perspective taking, compassionate care, and standing in patients’ shoes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, ANOVA, and linear regression (SPSS 25; P  < 0.05). The mean total empathy score was 80.3 ± 7.3 (possible range: 0–140). Female participants scored higher than males in the “Standing in Patients’ Shoes” domain ( P  = 0.025), with no other significant gender differences. No significant differences were observed between undergraduate and postgraduate students in univariate analyses. In multivariate models, marital status was positively associated with total empathy (B = 7.70, P  = 0.034). Separate regression models examining overall versus domain-specific empathy outcomes demonstrated that “Years of Study” showed inconsistent associations across models, indicating domain-dependent effects that should be interpreted cautiously. Age demonstrated differential associations across domains, with a positive relationship for Perspective Taking (B = 0.62, P  = 0.021) and negative associations for Compassionate Care (B = − 0.58, P  = 0.001) and Standing in Patients’ Shoes (B = − 0.20, P  = 0.015). Empathy scores varied across domains and were associated with demographic and academic factors in a model-dependent manner. These findings highlight the complexity of empathy in dental education and support the need for longitudinal and context-sensitive educational strategies.