Project Description Narrative:
This three-year project will develop a medical humanities program at MCW. Using an integrative approach and building off of the success in geriatrics and genetics curricular initiatives, this program will incorporate medical humanities into the formal curriculum for medical students and specifically address the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Liaison Committee on Medical Education global learning objectives included in the broader domains of 1) professionalism, including integrity, excellence, accountability, altruism, respect and duty; 2) communication; and 3) critical thinking and problem solving.
Medical humanities offers a broader analysis of issues such as the duties of physicians, the characteristics of the professional, the meaning of illness and suffering, and the importance of listening and caring. Currently, MCW offers one curricular offering dedicated to the medical humanities, a fourth-year elective course, entitled the Art of Medicine through the Humanities.
Program development will include faculty development toward increasing the humanities competence of the director and associate director through a three-day intensive program at Columbia University under the direction of Dr. Rita Charon, a recognized scholar of medical humanities; expanding the success of the M-4 humanities elective and the medical humanities student interest group; increasing faculty interest by developing a faculty humanities interest group; working with faculty members to integrate medical humanities into existing courses, including making competitive awards to faculty; development of two humanities symposia for MCW students and faculty; and a community outreach effort.