title: Empathy in medical education: A case for social construction.
abstract: In this brief review, we build upon suggestions in Pedersen's [1] excellent critical review of empathy research in medical education and make the case for an increase in social constructivist scholarship related to emotions and empathy within medical education contexts. In the process, we define social construction, as well as provide several key opportunities in which these types of theories could provide insights for medical educators.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medical Education and Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 808 S. Wood St., 968 CMET [MC 591], Chicago, IL 60612, United States. Electronic address: lhirshf@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Hirshfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, 808 S. Wood St., 966 CMET [MC 591], Chicago, IL 60612, United States. Electronic address: Kunder2@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Underman
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D005791:Patient Care / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Emotional socialization; Empathy; Medical education; Qualitative methods; Social constructivism