Background: Empathy is considered the central axis in the doctor-patient relationship, an important aspect in medical practice that influences a better performance of the doctor and medical students. It has been reported that medical students experience a pronounced decline in empathy as they proceed in the profession. Objective: To evaluate empathy in medical students of a public university in the south sierra of Peru. Method: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 students by stratified random sampling. The Jefferson Scale of Medical Empathy in its version “S, was used as a measurement tool. Results: Of the total of 206 students that participated, 53.4% were males, with a mean age of 21.09 years. The overall empathy mean was 87.77, with only 31% of the students obtaining an adequate level of empathy. Slightly higher mean scores were obtained in the men, and the highest scores were obtained in the first and third year, with no significant differences being found. Conclusions: It was found that males, students of first and third year, and those who recently started permanent contact with the patient had a higher mean score.