RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Teaching the humanities to medical students
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP 246
OP 249
DO 10.7861/clinmedicine.2-3-246
VO 2
IS 3
A1 Michael Baum
YR 2002
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/2/3/246.abstract
AB The decoding of the human genome offers great promise for the understanding and treatment of chronic human diseases at the last frontier. There is a widely recognised hazard that an exaggerated emphasis on molecular reductionism may lead to the loss of the essential humanitarian instincts of young doctors. To counteract this danger it is now accepted by many leading figures of the medical establishment that the undergraduate curriculum must evolve to incorporate a variety of subjects conventionally taught in the faculty of humanities at our great universities. In this article, the case is argued that the study of ‘medical humanities’ will enhance the empathy, communication skills, ethical standing and, paradoxically, the scientific literacy of the next generation of young doctors. As a clinical scientist, I cannot prove these assertions with an evidence base, but offer up arguments as qualitative or hypothesis generation.