A silly expression: Consultants’ implicit and explicit understanding of Medical Humanities. A qualitative analysis

Abstract

The term Medical Humanities has still not been established in the wider medical, educational and academic communities. This qualitative study, conducted across three acute care trusts, is an exploration of whether clinicians were familiar with the term Medical Humanities, and if so, what the term meant to them and whether they considered the associated concepts relevant to medical practice and education. Reactions to the term Medical Humanities were varied: many clinicians had not heard of the term before, some were unsure what it meant, others displayed mistrust or contempt for it. Explicit definitions that were elicited were categorised (inductively) according to three main approaches to the understanding of Medical Humanities: Humanistic-holistic, Humanities-medicine seperate and Intellectual exercise. Findings indicate that the lack of clarity about the term Medical Humanities among experienced healthcare professionals, contrasts with their sophisticated implicit knowledge of key issues frequently associated with Medical Humanities. Thus, while some clinicians could not define Medical Humanities and some definitions separated humanities from medicine, all clinicians implicitly acknowledged the importance of Medical Humanities issues within their clinical and teaching practices during conversations prior to any mention of the term. It appears that clinicians as role models for medical students can inadvertently convey an ambivalent position towards the Medical Humanities that encompass the very values and attitudes they are trying to inculcate, sending out mixed messages to the novices.

Medical Humanities and Their Discontents: Definitions, Critiques, and Implications

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The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine as a “Teaching Subject”: Lessons from the Medical Humanities and Simulation Pedagogy

“…These perceptions can remain static as students transition into professional roles and view MH with ambiguity or contempt (Knight, 2006).…”

Emphasizing humanities in medical education: Promoting the integration of medical scientific spirit and medical humanistic spirit

“…In the medical school curriculum, the medical humanities are intended to promote a way of being that incorporates personal convictions about one's obligations to others and to the development of a professional identity as a humanistic physician with personal attributes such as compassion, engagement, integrity, respect for patients, and a commitment to their own human flourishing (19,20).…”