The impact of Balint Groups on empathy and patient-centeredness in Brazilian medical students: a prospective pre-post interventional study

BACKGROUND: Medical education often prioritizes technical skills over empathy and patient-centered care, leading to a decline in empathy scores among medical students. Balint Groups, which focus on the emotional and relational aspects of patient care, have been proposed as a potential intervention to address this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Balint Groups on empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students. METHODS: A prospective, single-arm, pre-post interventional study was conducted with medical students from various academic years (1st to 6th year). Participants attended six virtual Balint Group sessions. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE-S), and patient-centeredness was assessed using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). The JSPE-S demonstrated robust internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.740; McDonald's omega = 0.763). RESULTS: The mean empathy score increased significantly from 121.42 (± 10.23) to 124.22 (± 7.31) (p < 0.001). Patient-centeredness also improved, with a significant increase in the "care" subscale (p = 0.0002) and a reduction in the "power" subscale (p = 0.004). Students classified as "patient-centered" increased from 41.1% to 45.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Balint Groups significantly improved empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students. These findings suggest that Balint Groups are an effective educational strategy to enhance relational skills in medical training, potentially leading to more humanized and empathetic healthcare professionals.