Purpose: Faculty role modeling is widely recognized as central to how medical students learn to relate to patients. Less examined is what this means in practice: teachers often function as key mentors for students' emotional and relational development, yet may receive little formal preparation or shared guidance for this role. This study explored how final-year medical students perceived faculty influence on their empathy development. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with final-year medical students about the influences shaping their empathy development during training. Transcripts were analyzed thematically, with attention to how students described faculty relationships, role modeling, and suggestions regarding faculty preparedness. Results: Participants consistently identified specific faculty members as major influences on their empathic development, describing memorable positive examples and, less often, discouraging ones. Several noted that faculty may not be trained to recognize how their behavior shapes students' relational and professional development. A recurring positive practice was faculty sharing personal stories from their own clinical experiences rather than relying only on silent demonstration. Students described these stories as memorable and formative. However, this practice appeared to depend on individual teachers rather than shared curricular expectations or faculty training. Conclusion: Mentorship for empathy development is powerful but uneven, depending largely on which individual faculty members students encounter. Formal faculty development in mentorship, role modeling, and reflective narrative practices could convert this chance-based influence into a deliberate and more equitable component of medical training. This aligns with the forum's emphasis on strengthening mentorship as a designed element of holistic learner growth.