Humanities and Medicine

Question : What is included in humanities ? What should be the relative proportion of various aspects of humanities ?
 Literature,  Languages,  Linguistics
 History (General),  Psychology
 Philosophy,  Theology
 Ethics,  Morality
 Sociology
 Economics ,  Political Science
 Geography
 History of Medicine Science,  Evolution of various specialties
 Fine Arts – Painting, Music, Sculpture and performing arts (dance, drama etc)
 Other branches of Science
 Physics, chemistry, botany, Zoology, Biology
 Scientific temperament,  The methods of science
 Darwin’s theory of evolution,  Genetics ,  Neurosciences
 Popularization of science (including medical) for general public and patients.
Question : What is the purpose of having humanities for medical students ?
 Broader mindset
 Open mindedness
 Better human being – better carer
 Empathy, compassin,  More idealistic and ethical
 Having better narrative and communication skills
 Good listener Good talker
 Good reader , Good writer
Question : Can these skills be taught or improved ? Aren’t they inherent ? Can you force feed humanities ?
 Will humanities really make a person a better doctor ?
 How to measure the impact ?
 Can there ever be means to measure that impact ?
Question : What should be the content/ syllabus for humanities in medical education ?
 Not prescribed but only suggested
 Or some core content


Question : Who makes this syllabus ? One group only at MCI or many?
 Medical Personnel
 Faculty from humanities
 Invited faculty from outside Already well established departments of medical humanities in Americas and Europe
 Authors in literature – English and Indian languages
Question : How to search those people ?
 Announce a workshop
 Announce a brain storming session
 Announce a core group on internet
Question : Will it not be a burden on already heavy curriculum for medical students ?
 How to keep it light, brief, entertaining, interesting, useful, meaningful
Question : When should humanities be taught or introduced ?
 Undergraduate level ?
 Postgraduate level ?
 General scope (UG)
 Specific scope (PG) – once a doctor has chosen his specialty
Project Library
To create and expand a well defined section in libraries of medical colleges for books and periodicals related to humanities
 Start preparing a list
 Should have relevance to country, region, culture, languages
 Should be balanced and inclusive for ideologies and opinions
 Popularize the collections within library.
 Invite students and ex-students to explore this collection.
 Poster, book reading sessions
 Who funds it? MCI/ ICMR/ ICSSR/ UGC
To foster narrative skills
 Each patient has a unique story
 Doctor is a part of story
 Both influence each other.
 ‘To be into the shoes of someone else’
 Encourage patients and relative to write stories
 Encourage doctors to write stories

Evidence Based medicine
versus
Experience based medicine
the two are not contradictory

How much weightage to be given to skills and knowledge in humanities ?
• At MBBS level
• At Internal assessment
• At common entrance examinations for PG seats/ all India service etc/ promotions
Other informal/optional/ non-blinding methods of evaluation and appreciation
• Quiz competition
• Essay competition
• Regional and national level meetings
• Magazine or journal dedicated to these themes.