'Problem Patients': Experience of and attitudes towards patients with substance misuse problems' (360G-Wellcome-202258_Z_16_Z)

My research intends to examine levels of empathy and compassion shown by undergraduate medical students in NUIG, with a particular regard on problem drug users, and to assess need for supplementary skills training in these areas. This will be accomplised by establishing patterns of empathy among undergraduate years in medicine and identifiying factors associated with either higher or lower levels of empathy, exploring perceptions and attitudes towards problem drug users and how they change during medical training, and also analysing the desire of students to have more educational opportunities to practice communication skills showing empathy and compassion. Specific objectives include establishing: Current understanding of empathy and its importance in clinical practice among medical students Current patterns of empathy fluctuation in undergraduate medicine Attitudes of students towards substance misuse and problem drug users, and the factors influencing these attitudes If additional education in empathy and compassion be welcomed by students or considered unnecessary Frequency of interactions with patients