Empathy and the Literary Imagination

Medical Writings1 October 2002Empathy and the Literary ImaginationLawrence J. Schneiderman, MDLawrence J. Schneiderman, MDDr. Schneiderman: University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA 92093-0622Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-137-7-200210010-00033 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Once while trying to persuade an adolescent diabetic patient to attend more carefully to her diet and insulin, I heard my voice echo in a strange chamber of my memory. Not the lecture hall with its erudite revelations of glucose and lipid metabolism, hyperglycemic pathologies, and insulin mechanisms of action, but rather the stunted, plaintive, haunted world of J.D. Salinger.Let us first acknowledge that as rapturously complex as diabetes mellitus is to the scientist, the options available to the practitioner for treating this teenager are brutally simple: diet and insulin. The concepts and instructions I imparted were well within ...References1. Salinger JD. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little Brown; 1951:12-3. Google Scholar2. Spiro H. What is empathy and can it be taught? Ann Intern Med. 1992;116:843-6. [PMID: 1482433] LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Lawrence J. Schneiderman, MDAffiliations: Dr. Schneiderman: University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA 92093-0622Note: Dr. Schneiderman is a published novelist (Sea Nymphs by the Hour), short story writer (Pushcart Nomination), and playwright (DramaLogue award).Corresponding Author: Lawrence J. Schneiderman, MD, Departments of Family and Preventive Medicine and Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0622, La Jolla, CA 92093; e-mail, ljs@ucsd.edu. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEmpathy and the Literary Imagination Thomas S. Artim Metrics Cited byLearning empathy through literatureDeveloping and Evaluating Medical Humanities Problem-Based Learning Classes Facilitated by the Teaching Assistants Majored in the Liberal ArtsErosion and Enhancement of EmpathyA Definition and Key Features of Empathy in Patient CareThe Humanistic Clinician: Traversing the Science and Art of Health CarePoetry: a reflective practice tool for nurses and midwivesViewpoint: Linking Professionalism to Humanism: What It Means, Why It MattersPhysician Empathy and Compassion for Inmate-Patients in the Correctional Health Care SettingLiterature and Medicine: A Problem of AssessmentJust a spoonful of humanities makes the medicine go down: introducing literature into a family medicine clerkshipEmbedding the humanities into medical educationMedical humanities: to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort alwaysEffect of Gender, Age, and Relevant Course Work on Attitudes Toward Empathy, Patient Spirituality, and Physician WellnessSuffering, Science and SabotageEmpathy and the Literary ImaginationThomas S. Artim, MD 1 October 2002Volume 137, Issue 7Page: 627-629KeywordsAdolescentsDietEmotionsHeartInsulinMemoryPreventive medicineRacial and ethnic issuesScientistsSleep ePublished: 1 October 2002 Issue Published: 1 October 2002 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2002 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...