Can Poetry Make Better Doctors? Teaching the Humanities and Arts to Medical Students and Residents at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine

Abstract

The Program in Medical Humanities & Arts at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine has been in existence for five years. The program was implemented to enhance aspects of professionalism including empathy, altruism, compassion, and caring toward patients, as well as to hone clinical communication and observational skills. It contains elective or required curriculum across all four years of medical school and required curriculum in two residency programs, organized according to structural principles of horizontal coherence, vertical complexity, and patient care applications. The program emphasizes small-group, interdisciplinary teaching and faculty development, and is notable for learners' use of creative projects to reflect on patients and themselves. Evaluation of the program indicates a positive response among learners. More systematic studies point to increases in empathy and positive attitudes toward the humanities as tools for professional development as a result of exposure to the program curriculum. Future directions include closer collaboration with the University of California, Irvine, Schools of the Arts and Humanities, involvement of local artists and writers, and development of a graduation with distinction in humanities for medical students.

Teaching professionalism in medical education: A Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic review. BEME Guide No. 25

“…Shapiro's group at the University of California Irvine instituted an 'art of doctoring' course (unit), and have been refining it since 1997 (Shapiro & Rucker 2003;Shapiro et al 2006c). As part of this, they have measured 'point of view writing' as a learning tool (Shapiro et al 2006b), taking Mixed methods result in multiple counts.…”

Movies in the Classroom: Lessons for Curriculum Design

“…In medicine, too, there has been growing interest in the use of the humanities to enhance medical training (Cassell, 1984;Sklar et al, 2002;Shapiro and Rucker, 2003;Blasco et al, 2005), with much of the literature suggesting that exposure can help make those who practise medicine more empathetic, understanding and thoughtful in their work. Why not, then, explore how this might be incorporated into the teaching of public health and leadership?…”

Medical Students' Knowledge of Midwifery Practice After Didactic and Clinical Exposure

“…12 Examples of multidisciplinary faculty teams who have jointly developed medical school curricula have been published. [12][13][14] However, educational outcomes have proved difficult to measure. 15,16 Long-term follow-up of graduates would be required to assess the impact of the changes on the future practices of physicians and other professionals.…”