In the field of health, empathy is defined as an attribute with cognitive and emotional dimensions that enables an understanding of inner experience and a perspective of the patient as a unique individual, plus the ability to communicate this understanding to the patient. The role of empathy is to identify and understand the patient's feelings, thus promoting an increase in trust, loyalty and respect between doctor and patient. Therefore, the following study was aimed at evaluating the empathy 3rd to 5th year medical residents from the Federal University of São Paulo to verify any possible differences between the empathy of physicians and surgeons and their relationship with the professional profile.