Black, White and Gray: Student Perspectives on Medical Humanities and Medical Education

Olding, Madeleine Noelle; Rhodes, Freya; Humm, John; Ross, Phoebe; McGarry, Catherine

doi:10.1080/10401334.2021.1982717

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Many participants also expressed reluctance towards the inclusion of formal assessments in the arts therapy-based program. The participants raised concerns that formal evaluations would impede honest and safe sharing for fear of “failing” the subject [ 57 ]. Yet, medical education places great emphasis on measuring quantifiable outcomes and formal assessments to “drive learning” [ 58 – 61 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The employment of art therapy to develop empathy and foster wellbeing for junior doctors in a palliative medicine rotation - a qualitative exploratory study on acceptability

Ong,

Tan,

Chiam

et al. 2024

BMC Palliat Care

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Background The interdisciplinary realm of medical humanities explores narratives and experiences that can enhance medical education for physicians through perspective-taking and reflective practice. However, there is a gap in comprehension regarding its appropriateness at the postgraduate level, especially when utilising art therapists as faculty. This study aims to assess the acceptability of an innovative art therapy-focused educational initiative among junior doctors during a palliative care rotation, with the goal of cultivating empathy and promoting well-being. Methods A qualitative research project was conducted at the Division of Supportive and Palliative Care (DSPC) in the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). The study involved the recruitment of junior doctors who had successfully completed a three-month palliative care rotation program, spanning from January 2020 to April 2021. In a single small-group session lasting 1.5 h, with 3 to 4 participants each time, the individuals participated in activities such as collage making, group reflection, and sharing of artistic creations. These sessions were facilitated by an accredited art therapist and a clinical psychologist, focusing on themes related to empathy and wellbeing. To assess the acceptability of the program, two individual interviews were conducted three months apart with each participant. An independent research assistant utilised a semi-structured question guide that considered affective attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, coherence, and self-efficacy. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data was then employed to scrutinise the participants’ experiences. Results A total of 20 individual interviews were completed with 11 participants. The three themes identified were lack of pre-existing knowledge of the humanities, promotors, and barriers to program acceptability. Conclusions The participants have mixed perceptions of the program’s acceptability. While all completed the program in its entirety, the acceptability of the program is impeded by wider systemic factors such as service and manpower needs. It is vital to address these structural limitations as failing to do so risks skewing current ambivalence towards outright rejection of future endeavours to integrate humanities programs into medical education.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The employment of art therapy to develop empathy and foster wellbeing for junior doctors in a palliative medicine rotation - a qualitative exploratory study on acceptability

Ong,

Tan,

Chiam

et al. 2024

BMC Palliat Care

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“…There was also heterogeneity in teaching medical humanities, regarding both content and methods of teaching. Olding et al [8] observes that with increasing acknowledgement of the value and relevance of humanities-based teaching in medical education, many medical schools in UK have made additions to their curricula that allow students to explore ‘the grey – as opposed to the black and white’ – areas of medicine through arts, humanities, and social sciences”.…”

Section: Humanities In Medical Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of humanities in modern medical education

Isaac

2023

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of review The role and importance of integrating humanities into medical education has been recognized for a long time. However, to what extent humanities are included in the medical curricula and how and when they are taught during the medical training in medical schools across the world is unclear. The review was undertaken to study the current status and role of humanities in medical education Recent findings Humanities content in the medical curriculum and the teaching of humanities continue to remain unstandardized. What constitutes medical humanities is unclear as there are several understandings of medical humanities. The benefits and value – both short term and long term - of including humanities in training of doctors and other health professionals remain unresolved and continue to be debated. Although some surveys have shown that exposure to the humanities was significantly correlated with positive personal qualities, including empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, wisdom, emotional appraisal, self-efficacy, and spatial skills, and inversely correlated with some components of burnout, robust evidence from well conducted studies to support the benefits of integrating humanities into medical training is very limited. An overreaching conceptual or theoretical framework for the health humanities in health professionals’ education continue to be elusive. Summary The status, stature, profile, and role of humanities in medical education remain varied across medical schools and universities. There is a need for standardized curricula, uniform criteria and guidelines for teaching medical humanities, training modules / materials, methods of assessment and better integration of humanities in medical education.

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“…Contemporary bioethicists and medical humanists continue to support this call, pointing to the two-fold nature of medicine, biomedical and humanistic, and advocating for applying the same scientific rigor to the psychosocial model as customarily applied to the biomedical [4,[7][8][9]. Being attentive to dehumanizing tendencies in some areas of contemporary health care, and a burgeoning awareness of some of the shortcomings of the positivist influence on medical practice, medical educators have come to acknowledge the importance of exposing future medical practitioners to teaching subjects that inculcate "humaneness", promoting empathy and compassion, and helping them develop reflective, critical, curious and creative faculties [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak inclusion of the medical humanities in medical education: a qualitative study among Danish medical students

et al. 2022

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Background The modern medical education is predominantly grounded in the biomedical sciences. In recent years, medical humanities have been included into the medical curricula in many countries around the world one of the objectives being to promote patient-centred, empathic care by future physicians. Studies have been made of the impact of inclusion of medical humanities components within the medical curriculum. Although some results suggest increased empathy, others remain inconclusive. To gain insight into the depth, context, and impact of inclusion of the medical humanities for future physicians, this study aimed to explore Danish medical students’ understanding of and reflections on how the medical humanities relate to the medical education, including the clinic. Methods We conducted a qualitative research study, involving semi-structured interviews with twenty-three Danish medical students across years of curriculum and medical schools. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Results The findings demonstrate the subordinate role of the medical humanities in the medical educational system. Students prioritize biomedical knowledge building in the preclinical curriculum, partly as a reaction to an unbalanced institutional inclusion of the medical humanities. Observing how structural empathy incentives are lacking in the clinical curriculum, the values inherent in the medical humanities are undermined. Conclusion Danish medical students become part of an educational environment with lacking institutional conditions and structures to promote the strong inclusion of the medical humanities. A focus is therefore needed on the values, norms and structures of the medical educational systems that undermine a strong inclusion of the medical humanities into medical education.

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Black, White and Gray: Student Perspectives on Medical Humanities and Medical Education

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

The employment of art therapy to develop empathy and foster wellbeing for junior doctors in a palliative medicine rotation - a qualitative exploratory study on acceptability

The employment of art therapy to develop empathy and foster wellbeing for junior doctors in a palliative medicine rotation - a qualitative exploratory study on acceptability

Role of humanities in modern medical education

Weak inclusion of the medical humanities in medical education: a qualitative study among Danish medical students

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