Niveles de orientación empática en los estudiantes de odontología

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the emphatic orientation, considering the gender and course factors, in Odontology students in the Health Sciences Faculty of the Latin American University of Sciences and Technology in Costa Rica. The sample was composed of 225 students from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th levels in Odontology Studies. They were inquired using a tool called The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-S) during a week, a determined day per level. After carrying out the statistical analysis, it was found that the higher levels show higher levels of empathetic orientation than the rest of the courses examined in both genders. It is due to the increase of the students' clinical practice at the end of the studies and to the responsibility and commitment they achieve with their patients. Also, in general, empathetic orientation is higher in females than in males and it is evolving differently through years of studies.