Use of Theater to Invoke Empathy and Reduce Bias in Medical Students

University of California (UC) Davis

Status: Completed

Conditions: Medical Student Bias

Treatments: Behavioral: Dramatic Reading; Behavioral: Medical Lecture

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01739257

254423

Details and patient eligibility

About

The effect of medical humanities on medical student bias and clinical management is unclear. This study characterized medical student attitudes toward obese individuals and whether reading a play employing empathic characters can modulate negative reactions.

Enrollment: 129 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 99 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• medical student at UC Davis, UC Irvine, or Mayo Medical School

Exclusion criteria

• none

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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129 participants in 2 patient groups

Theater

Experimental group

Description:

1-hour dramatic reading of "The Most Massive Woman Wins"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Dramatic Reading

Lecture

Active Comparator group

Description:

1-hour lecture on the medical management of obese patients

Treatment:

Behavioral: Medical Lecture