The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, in collaboration with the center for Bioethics and Health Law, offers an area of concentration in medical humanities for interested and qualified students. Just as medical science draws from a number of sciences to understand and address disease and disability, the interdisciplinary field of medical humanities draws from the humanities to enable physicians to provide more humane, sensitive care to diverse patients. Moreover, while the medical sciences provide many tools to diagnose, treat, or prevent medical conditions, the medical humanities provide intellectual and emotional resources for physicians as they face health care issues that seem to have "no good solution," perhaps because of limited knowledge, limited resources, or a clash of values or cultures between their patients and what medicine can offer.

To enhance medical science and its clinical application, medical humanities draws from the diverse domains of anthropology, cultural studies, ethics, history, law, literature, philosophy, religion, writing, and women's studies. Through this Area of Concentration (AoC) in Medical Humanities, students will gain an enriched appreciation of the social context in which bioscience interventions and debates take place. They will explore how medicine and culture interact to shape provider and patient identities, healthcare practices, and healthcare institutions. In addition, they will gain critical analytical skills needed to participate in the broader public conversation about health care.

Students work with a mentor to tailor the content of their AoC to fulfill their interests and to apply medical humanities perspectives within clinical contexts. The AoC is designed to allow students to continue to pursue interest in the humanities that they may miss from their college studies, and to help them become a part of a broader community of medical humanities scholars and practitioners both locally, in the School of Medicine and the University, and nationally through participation in the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.  Students may complete their Scholarly Project as part of the AoC.

REQUIREMENTS

Faculty Mentor: Students select and meet with a mentor.  Current mentors and their areas of interest include:

Robert M. Arnold, MD (internal medicine, bioethics)

David Barnard, PhD (medical humanities, palliative care)

Kathleen Blee, PhD (women's studies, sociology)

Nancy Condee, PhD (cultural studies, Slavic studies)

Annette Dula, EdD (bioethics, health disparities)

Kathleen DeWalt, PhD (medical anthropology)

Lynn Emanuel, MFA (writing)

Jonathon Erlen, PhD (history of medicine)

Lucy Fisher, PhD (film studies, literature)           

John Lyne, PhD (rhetoric)

Alan Meisel, JD (health law, bioethics)

Lisa S. Parker, PhD (bioethics, philosophy)

Jason Rosenstock, MD (psychiatry, history)

Marilyn Russell (Carnegie Museum of Art)

Ken Thompson, MD (psychiatry)

Mark Wicclair, PhD (bioethics, philosophy)

Michael Yonas, DrPH (public health, community-based interventions and the arts) 

Local Medical Humanities Professional Educational Activities: Students participate in at least six local medical humanities professional educational activities during each of three years. This requirement can be met by attending Bioethics and Health law Grand Rounds lectures, Health Policy Institute lectures, Literature and Medicine Reading Group meetings, and Reynolds History of Medicine lectures. Other relevant events and lectures fulfilling this requirement may be offered in cultural or women=s studies; at the Schools of Law, Medicine, and other health sciences; or by local art museums and organizations, theater, or community organizations.

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH): Students maintain membership in the Society for at least two years and attend one national ASBH meeting (or, with permission, another medical humanities meeting). ASBH brings together bioethicists, clinicians, economists, historians, lawyers, philosophers, and theologians, as well as artists and creative writers.  The diverse group is united by interest in the cultural context of medicine and the ethical and social issues surrounding health care.  Student members are encouraged to submit papers for the annual national meeting that usually occurs in the fall.  There is a prize for the best student paper.  (www.asbh.org)

Graduate-level Medical Humanities Courses: Students take two graduate-level medical humanities courses; typically one during the first two years, and a second during the third or fourth year.  A variety of medical humanities courses are offered at the graduate level in various schools of the University.  Students may petition to have a particular course serve as part of the AoC. Recent course offerings include:

Bioethics

Bioethics and Law

Elder Law, Ethics and Aging

Gender, Ethics and the Body

Feminist Theory, Health Law and Ethics

Historical and Sociological Perspectives on Public Health

History of Medicine

Moral Theory

New Reproductive Practices

Philosophy of Medicine

Philosophy of Science

Psychoanalysis and Cultural Identity

Readings in Contemporary Fiction

Rhetoric of Science

Special Topics in Medical Anthropology

Writing Structures and Techniques

Special Topics in Bioethics

Theoretical Foundations of Applied Ethics 

Fourth-year Medical Humanities Electives: Students complete two fourth-year medical humanities electives.  Recent offerings include: Cultural Competency, Ethical Issues in Clinical Practice, History of Medicine, and Narrative and the Experience of Illness.

Clinical Application of Medical Humanities: Students apply medical humanities approaches in one of their third- or fourth-year clinical rotations.  Specifically, in consultation with the AoC director, students will design a medical humanities-related experience and propose a product related to one of the clinical rotations. Students might keep a journal of that clinical experience and meet with a mentor to discuss the rotation and journal record from a medical humanities perspective, or write a short paper, poetry, or creative nonfiction work, or create a piece of visual art that reflects the student=s clinical observations from a medical humanities perspective. Students in similar experiences have, for example, explored the history of the specialty or its procedures in a short paper, researched an ethical issue that arises, written fiction or a script from patient perspectives, or crafted poetry reflecting on their own experiences.

SELECTION CRITERIA