This study highlights the perspectives of pre-medical students on the role of empathy and emotional contagion in the clinical encounter, as well as its implications on clinical decision-making. Empathy is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that describes the ability to sense and feel the emotions of another, while emotional contagion refers to the human tendency to match the other’s emotional state. We sent a survey to 180 pre-medical students, collecting responses designed to test how students view empathy and emotional contagion in terms of definition, utility, and importance. We also tested the extent to which pre-medical students feel that empathy is taught or learned during or before undergraduate education. Utilizing qualitative research methods and open-coding strategies, we found that students hold pre-conceptualized definitions of empathy, as well as have an understanding of how it is felt and portrayed by the clinical setting, consistent with theories of anticipatory socialization. Students also admit to the significance of empathy in a physician, reporting that empathy should be a trait required for entrance into medical school and should be taught more frequently in undergraduate education. However, this study simultaneously demonstrates the adoption of “clinical empathy” amongst pre-medical students, suggesting an early onset of the perceived importance of detachment and objectivity in medicine. Yet, we also highlight the perceived importance of emotional contagion amongst pre-medical students, mainly in the formation and development of the patient-physician relationship. Further research into the development of these empathy and emotional contagion perspectives in relation to one another is important in examining the development of the future physician.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-health individuals around the world encountered a range of challenges. Research and internship opportunities were cancelled, clinical experience was unreachable, and prerequisites became more demanding in a remote setting. I myself was working in a research lab in Switzerland when the pandemic was declared, resulting in my career-altering internship to be cut short six months. My life-long friend, Alejandra, had the same experience and reached out to me with an extraordinary idea to unite and empower pre-health individuals on a national level. With my skills in event planning combined with her vision, we built the National Pre-Health Conference (NPHC): a 3-day virtual event for pre-health individuals to explore medical careers and learn how to pursue their professional goals, particularly during these uncertain times. We held our inaugural conference with the theme A Future in Medicine in 2020 with over 1000 attendees from around the country. In 2021, we held our second-annual conference with the theme Unity in Healthcare with over 1000 attendees as well. In addition to planning the second-annual NPHC, I employed pre-event and post-event surveys to assess the confidence level of attendees before and after the conference in healthcare experience, research experience, standardized testing, community service, academics, essay writing, and completing graduate/professionals school applications. We found that NPHC improved the confidence level of attendees in all categories. Overall, understanding how NPHC benefits pre-health students will help our team improve for future conferences.