- Medical Sociology, Gender, Quantitative Methods
General Information
Additional Contact Information
UNOSSRC@unomaha.edu
Biography
Dr. Kelly Rhea MacArthur is an Associate Professor of Sociology, joining the UNO faculty in 2014 after receiving her Ph.D. from Kent State University. She is a medical sociologist with teaching and research experience in medical socialization/education, mental health/illness, health disparities, gender, and quantitative methods/statistics. Her past work has examined various aspects of the doctor-patient relationship, with publications in journals including Academic Psychiatry, BMC Medical Education, Social Science and Medicine, Child Abuse & Trauma, Health Sociology Review, and Sociology Compass. Her current research focuses on the well-being of medical students, the effects of loneliness on health, and statistics pedagogy.
Teaching Interests
Dr. MacArthur’s teaching also reflects her expertise in medical sociology, mental health, and quantitative methods. Specifically, she regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate level Social Statistics and Medical Sociology. Furthermore, most of the courses she has taught have been offered online. Given her developing research in the area, she also offers a new cross-listed undergraduate/graduate 100% online course entitled Human Connection, Loneliness, & Health.
Research Interests
Dr. MacArthur is currently working on several projects regarding various aspects of medical student/physician well-being to address the high rates of burnout and poor health, including elevated rates of suicide, among doctors. These studies examine: medical students’ perceptions of a required wellness elective; medical students' implicit biases toward addiction; and explanations for the decline of clinical empathy from pre-med to residency. Dr. MacArthur also has two other lines of research, one of which is pedagogical research that incorporates her expertise in mental health to understand the role of how statistics anxiety affects academic performance and how that varies by gender and the other is a new area of interest in the effects of loneliness on health.
Service Summary
Dr. MacArthur is the chair of the steering committee for the Social Science Research Commons (SSRC), which is a space for students, faculty, and community members to build opportunities & support networks for interdisciplinary research. Located in Arts & Sciences Hall (ASH) 304, the SSRC is an initiative of the social sciences to promote academic partnership and collaboration by offering a network of support for UNO/UNMC students and faculty as they work to master critical research tools and methodologies. For more information on SSRC services/events, email unossrc@unomaha.edu
Education
Ph D, Kent State University, Kent, OH, Sociology, 2014
MA, Kent State University, Kent, OH, Sociology, 2008
BA, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ, Sociololgy, 2004
Scholarship/Research/Creative Activity
Selected Publications
MacArthur, Kelly, Stacey, Clare, Harvey, Sarah, Markle, Jonathan. 2021. The Direct and Indirect Effects of Clinical Empathy on Well-Being among Pre-Medical Students: A Structural Equation Model Approach, BMC Medical Education.
MacArthur, Kelly, Koley, Jonathan, Wengel, Steven. 2021. Student Perceptions of a Reflective Writing-Based Wellness Course: Good in Theory, but…., Medical Science Educator.
Balasanova, Alëna , MacArthur, Kelly, Delizza, Alison. 2020. From All Walks of Life’: Attending an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting to Reduce Addiction Stigma Among Medical Students, Academic Psychiatry, 44, 714-720.
MacArthur, Kelly. 2020. Treating Loneliness in the Aftermath of a Pandemic: Threat or Opportunity?, Routledge, 197-208.
MacArthur, Kelly, Sikorski, Jonathon. 2020. A Qualitative Analysis of the Coping Reservoir Model of Pre-Clinical Medical Student Well-Being: Human Connection as making it ‘Worth it’, BMC Medical Education, 20, 1-11.