Background: The shift of the higher education curriculum from traditional, lecture-based approaches to an integrated, student-centred approach was triggered by the concern over the content-driven nature of medical knowledge with minimal clinical application like problem based learning (PBL.)

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of problem-based learning in interns’ sensitization program on ethics empathy in doctor-patients relationship.

Materials & Methods: A workshop was organized to sensitize intern doctors regarding empathy. Thirty interns were divided into four groups of six to eight students, and a hybrid case was introduced in each group. Initial reactions were obtained, ethics-empathy issues were elicited, learning objectives were developed, Learning tasks were assigned and learning resources were identified. Then interns were advised for self-directed learning and the teacher acted as facilitator. Reinforcement was done through interactive lecture.

Results: The mean score of pre-test was 3.86(±1.2) and post-test was 4.9(±1.9). The gain by interns after workshop was found statistically significant (p<0.05). Majority of the intern strongly agreed on all the questions, on few questions they agreed and neutral but none disagreed or strongly disagreed on various questions for feedback. Such as this activity will help me to adopt patient centered attitude (60% strongly agree), this activity is better than conventional lecture (50% strongly agree).

Conclusion: Hybrid problem-based learning approach is an effective teaching-learning method for empathy in doctor-patient relationship. The use of reflective narratives, role plays and movie clips are perceived by learners to be effective in learning empathy in doctor-patient relationship. Now it is it’s time to incorporate PBL in medical ethics education.

Key words: Empathy, Problem- based learning, Reflective writing, Feedback, Doctor-patient relationship