The medical humanities: toward a renewed praxis

J Med Humanit. 2009 Dec;30(4):209-20. doi: 10.1007/s10912-009-9091-7.

Abstract

In this essay, I explore medical humanities practice in the United States with descriptions offered by fifteen faculty members who participated in an electronic survey. The questions posed focused on the desirability of a core humanities curriculum in medical education; on the knowledge, skills, and values that are found in such a curriculum; and on who should teach medical humanities and make curriculum decisions regarding content and placement. I conclude with a call for a renewed interdisciplinarity in the medical humanities and a move away from the territorial aspects of disciplinary knowledge and methods sometimes found in medical humanities practice.

MeSH terms

  • Curriculum*
  • Education, Medical*
  • Health Care Surveys
  • Humanities / education*
  • Humans
  • United States