Medical Students’ Exposure to the Humanities Correlates with Positive Personal Qualities and Reduced Burnout: A Multi-Institutional U.S. Survey

Abstract

This study confirms the association between exposure to the humanities and both a higher level of students' positive qualities and a lower level of adverse traits. These findings may carry implications for medical school recruitment and curriculum design. "[Science and humanities are] twin berries on one stem, grievous damage has been done to both in regarding [them]... in any other light than complemental." (William Osler, Br Med J. 1919;2:1-7).

Opening Editorial - The Importance of the Humanities in Medical Education

“…The authors state, " The humanities might actually provide an indispensable language for exploring that strange, nuanced, and often nonsensical land called the human condition". (Mangione et al, 2018) This is why the humanities need to play a part in medical education; we are dealing withhuman beings, and their nonsensical ideas and emotions. The human condition cannot be fully understood by scientists; indeed "Most clinicians are not scientists; they have a different responsibility -to attempt to relieve distress and suffering …."…”

Humanities in Medicine: A Qualitative Study of Graduate and Student Experiences of Completing a Student Selected Component

“…Whilst there are opposing views on the fostering of empathy in relation to the medical humanities, extensive literature suggests the importance of building empathy amongst medical students (Mangione et al, 2018;Graham et al, 2016;Marshall & Bleakley, 2009;Garden, 2007). It has been suggested that empathy may be stunted during students' medical education and that this stunting can then follow through to clerkship and residency (Pedersen, 2010).…”

“…It has been suggested that empathy may be stunted during students' medical education and that this stunting can then follow through to clerkship and residency (Pedersen, 2010). It has been proposed that the humanities may in fact play a key role in building and developing empathy in medical education (Mangione et al, 2018;Pedersen, 2010;Wershof Schwartz, 2009). By encouraging the development of empathic skills humanities projects may have a long term benefit by encouraging resilience which may in turn help reduce risk of burnout (Mangione et al, 2018;Dennhardt et al, 2016;Rotenstein et al, 2016).…”

Medical Schools Should Admit More Guitar Players

“…In their study, Mangione and his colleagues administered a survey to 739 medical students, asking them questions about their exposure to the humanities and administering scales for a variety of outcomes: wisdom, empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, burnout, and visual-spatial skills. 5 To gauge exposure to the humanities, students were asked to indicate on a scale of 0 Bnever^to 4 Bdaily^how often they engaged in the following humanities activities: visual arts, singing, playing musical instruments, listening to music, dancing, writing for pleasure, reading for pleasure, attending theater, going to museums/galleries, and attending concerts. So far, so good; if exposure to humanities produces wise, empathic, emotionally intelligent doctors, this would have important implications for medicine.…”

“…Indeed, the authors found that humanities exposure was significantly related to all ten of the identified outcomes and related most strongly to tolerance for ambiguity, empathy, and wisdom. 5 In discussing the implications of their findings, Mangione et al framed their results primarily around curriculum. They conclude BHence, if we wish to create wiser, more tolerant, empathetic and resilient physicians, we might want to reintegrate the humanities in medical education.^5.…”