Virtual improv sessions can boost empathy in medical students, a recent study by University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine (UW DOM) researchers shows—suggesting a creative, scalable solution to the empathy decline often seen during medical training.

Researchers monitored the empathy levels of 50 medical students from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH). Half of these students attended three to five virtual improv sessions on Zoom, alongside their regular medical curriculum. Both the intervention group and the control group completed three empathy assessments about one week before and after the improv sessions.

In their sessions, the intervention group used improvisational theater exercises and debrief discussions to develop specific empathy-related skills. For example: in one exercise, partners take turns asking and answering questions as if they were the other person, then discuss how this role-playing affected their interaction.

“Improv is about knocking you out of your habitual ways of thinking and acting, so you can discover something new,” explains the paper’s senior author, Amy Zelenski, PhD, director of education innovation and scholarship for the department. While past studies have looked at the benefits of in-person and virtual improv on student wellbeing and communication, she notes, “This is the first randomized, controlled trial of using virtual improv to increase empathy.”

And the results were striking. Students in the improv group reported significant improvements in perspective-taking, self-reflection, and emotional expression, while also experiencing a decrease in personal distress—a key factor in preventing burnout. In contrast, students who did not participate in the improv sessions saw declines in these areas and an increase in personal distress.

In the video below, Dr. Zelenski sums up why these findings are important.

Empathy in the curriculum

“To have a lasting effect,” Dr. Zelenski adds, “We need to surround interventions like this with curriculum. People aren’t just going to pick this up on their own.”

Besides improv, there are other humanities-informed methods that are effective at teaching empathy—including narrative medicine and visual thinking strategies.

“These are things we actually do in our empathy course for the residency program,” she says.

Learn more about the DOM’s empathy course and other education innovations here.

Banner: Amy Zelenski, PhD, director of education innovation and scholarship for the Department of Medicine and senior author of the new study. Credit: Clint Thayer/Department of Medicine.