Learning Language, Un/Learning Empathy in Medical School.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Sociology of Medicine
• Linguistics

Background:

• Medical school curricula may inadvertently erode student empathy.
• Early training, including the White Coat Ceremony, shapes professional identity.
• The development of physician-patient relationships is influenced by educational processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how empathy and solidarity are potentially diminished in medical students.
• To analyze the role of language socialization in medical training.
• To explore the impact of early medical education on physician-patient separation and health equity.

Main Methods:

• Ethnographic research utilizing personal medical training field notes and recordings.
• Observant participation and interviews with medical students over several years.
• Analysis through the framework of language socialization.

Main Results:

• Learning the language of medical practice (verbal, textual, bodily) contributes to physician-patient separation.
• Medical students develop a performative empathy that can limit clinical care.
• This performative empathy impedes the potential for solidarity in achieving health equity.

Conclusions:

• Medical education, particularly in pre-clinical years, requires re-evaluation to preserve empathy.
• Language socialization in medicine can have unintended negative consequences on the physician-patient relationship.
• Addressing these issues is crucial for fostering health equity and improving patient care.