Providing context for a medical school basic science curriculum: The importance of the humanities |
| |
Authors: | Britta M Thompson Jerry B Vannatta Laura E Scobey Mark Fergeson Sheila M Crow |
| |
Institution: | 1. Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, USA, bthompson@hmc.psu.edu;3. University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, USA,;4. University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Introduction: To increase students’ understanding of what it means to be a physician and engage in the everyday practice of medicine, a humanities program was implemented into the preclinical curriculum of the medical school curriculum. The purpose of our study was to determine how medical students’ views of being a doctor evolved after participating in a required humanities course.Methods: Medical students completing a 16-clock hour humanities course from 10 courses were asked to respond to an open-ended reflection question regarding changes, if any, of their views of being a doctor. The constant comparative method was used for coding; triangulation and a variety of techniques were used to provide evidence of validity of the analysis.Results: A majority of first- and second-year medical students (rr?=?70%) replied, resulting in 100 pages of text. A meta-theme of Contextualizing the Purpose of Medicine and three subthemes: the importance of Treating Patients Rather than a Disease, Understanding Observation Skills are Important, and Recognizing that Doctors are Fallible emerged from the data.Conclusions: Results suggest that requiring humanities as part of the required preclinical curriculum can have a positive influence on medical students and act as a bridge to contextualize the purpose of medicine. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|