Medical educators recognize the need for empathetic physicians, and empathy has been considered to be extremely important in medical education. Research has shown that empathy can lead to positive patient outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, and compliance, lower malpractice litigation, reduced cost of care and fewer medical errors. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the participation of pre-med students in an empirically validated empathy training program (that has been successfully be used with physicians) can improve pre-med student empathy as it relates to performance on the health professions student version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE-HPS). The study looked at how pre-med students can benefit from empathy training. The study population was a convenience sample of freshmen pre-med students enrolled in the Medical Scholar Seminar class at Saint Louis University. Empathy training encounters from the curriculum were integrated in the Medical Scholar Seminar class and students in the class were invited to take the JSE-HPS both before (pre-test) and after (post-test) training. Traditional pre-med students in the Foundations of Medicine class were invited to take the JSE-HPS as a pre-test and a post-test even though they did not receive the training. Demographic data was collected from the study population regarding their gender, majors, and probable medical specialty. Special focus was given to the gain or loss of empathy as measured prior to and after the training. The findings of the study suggest that merely providing short-term empathy training using a program that successfully rejuvenated empathy in physicians to freshmen pre-med scholars will not improve their empathy scores. The study does indicate that the Medical Scholars (in the early pathway program) have higher empathy levels both before and after empathy training than traditional pre-med students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]