I. Introduction and Rationale:
The need to unite the study of the humanities (including the social sciences) with medical curricula has gained widespread currency in the last two decades. This interdisciplinary position, however, has also met some resistance, mostly since there is a widespread view that education in medicine should be predicated on the immediate needs to care for the sick and dying and cannot afford, therefore, to engage in aesthetic, philosophical or theoretical deliberations.
By bringing together medical issues and the humanities, we seek to break the firm boundaries between the disciplines and diminish the prevalent prioritization of science over the humanities. This urge to unite the two fields is based on the belief that the medical field has much to gain from an interdisciplinary curriculum. For instance, studying art and literature is fundamentally an “exercise in attention.” In other words, by analyzing pieces of artwork and fiction, students are stimulated emotionally, which translates into a “training” in imagining automatically the point of view of others, or more universally in a natural dialectical approach to thinking. Furthermore, we believe that by studying philosophical conundrums, students engage naturally in cultural criticism. Finally, studying social sciences such as sociology and anthropology guarantees that students appreciate variations in culture and hence are driven almost organically to view the “bigger picture”. In short, a training in the humanities fosters creative thinking, as one is routinely asked to “think outside the box” and imagine innovative solutions to life’s conundrums.
Below are Medical Humanities model programs that we may want to emulate:
A/ John Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences- B.A in Medical Humanities
John Hopkins' Krieger School of Arts and Sciences offers a major in Medicine, Science, and Humanities. The program is interdisciplinary, and based in the humanities by using cultural and historical contexts while it explores scientific inquiries and medicine’s roots. This program is especially useful for students who want to pursue a career as health professionals or those who are interested in issues of importance to science and medicine. The program is also ideal for students who plan in pursuing graduate studies that relate to humanities, social sciences, or professional disciplines.
Requirements for the program are:
Introductory Level
Core
Foreign Language
Additional Courses in the Sciences and the Humanities
Examples of Courses Available
English
German & Romance Languages & Literatures
History of Science and Technology
Humanities Center
Medicine, Science, and the Humanities
Museums and Society
Philosophy
Site: http://krieger.jhu.edu/msh/2015/01/22/new-major/
B/ Baylor University-B.A in Medical Humanities
The Medical Humanities Major primary target is undergraduate students entering health care professions. The program is designed to provide students with an interdisciplinary humanities curriculum that fosters faith and spiritual formation; an understanding of the complexity of health and healing; and respect for the cultural and pluralistic diversity.
Requirements for the program are:
Core
In this course the nature of healthcare relationships is examined from a number of perspectives, including both the patient and the healthcare provider. The issues explored in this course include both the professional and ethical and the means to cope with them. This is a medical humanities module.
Introduction to the health professions; the nature of the medical and dental arts; educational skills and basic survival skills in the healthcare professions; overview of graduate level study in health related professions.
Introduces first-year students to the world of academics and the scholarly community through exploration of the major themes intrinsic in the physician/patient relationship. Emphasizes critical inquiry and thinking, research, writing, and problem solving. Substitutes for a basic social requirement on certain degrees automatically only in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The development of critical, coherent, and creative thinking, including understanding, analyzing, and evaluating the claims of others, organizing ideas clearly, and constructing sound arguments. Development of sensitivity to argumentation technique and to the language in which arguments are expressed, with particular attention to the persuasive techniques of advertising and other controversial issues in the mass media.
Introduction to philosophical reasoning regarding medical ethics, including confidentiality, intervention in the beginning and ending of human life, and just distribution of medical resources.
Introduction to clinical/medical research in an academic medical setting, including medical ethics, research modalities, and evaluation tools.
A historical framework for Western spiritual traditions, especially the Christian tradition, stressing the relationship between Christian spirituality and healing.
For Medical Humanities Major/Minor Students only. An overview of the connections between visual art, healing and healthcare, the role of imagination and creativity in medicine, including the critical viewing of art, class discussions, experiential learning, and a service-learning project.
A survey of the field of developmental psychology. Consideration is given to the development of human behavior from conception to death. For non-majors only.
Historical, aesthetic, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological approaches to the major faith traditions of our world.
A review of the origins and development of medicine and medical science from pre-historic times to be present. Consideration will be given to the impact of major diseases on civilization and the emergence of successful measures of control.
Examination of literature dealing with illness, disease, pain, and death in order to understand better how societal perceptions and values of the care-giver affect the patient. Study of literary, philosophical, and medical works; each student will present a significant work for discussion, together with a major paper in one of these areas.
Economic aspects of health and medical care: theory, empirical evidence, history, institutions, and public policy.
Supervised weekly clinical service through various medical fields complemented by weekly seminar sessions.
A sociological examination of health, illness, and the social organization of medical care in the United States. Consideration is given to race, class, gender, and age as factors influencing health, illness, and the delivery of medical care.
Philosophical approaches to clinical medicine and contemporary health care, focusing on experience as a basis for knowledge.
This course critically analyzes how healthcare professionals are involved in the dying experience with patients, families, and communities. Topics include causes of death, trauma, spirituality in grief, complicated bereavement, hospice and palliative care, physician-assisted dying, futile treatment at the end of life, and cross-cultural sensitivities.
Ethical issues in the fields of health care and other life sciences. Some of the issues studied include behavior modification, abortion, euthanasia, health care delivery, human experimentation, and genetic modification. A major research project on a selected issue approved by the professor will be required of each student.
Critical reflections on questions of humanity, human well-being, understandings of disability, suffering, and care of those with disabilities, with emphasis on cultural, religious, medical and social perspectives.
Advanced studies in special topics involving the Medical Humanities. In some cases students will be expected to complete research or a special project.
Electives
Economic aspects of health and medical care: theory, empirical evidence, history, institutions, and public policy.
Introduces students to historical and theoretical foundations of community health, major health problems prevalent in society, and the community health models and programs used to address these problems. Overviews seven competency areas of an entry-level health education specialist and their applicability in community settings. Explores career opportunities, mock interviews, and resume and cover letter writing.
A health education course in which basic concepts of human sexuality are analyzed and discussed. The course is designed to help students better understand the influences that affect the complex nature of human interaction and to provide accurate information needed to help develop responsible decision making skills.
A program of death education designed to help people to develop constructive attitudes, values, and practices. Dynamics of later life and the aging process with special emphasis on health will also be included.
Basic principles of pathophysiology and mechanism of diseases affecting the human body, including basic principles of epidemiology with emphasis on the causation and effects of disease on human populations.
A critical study of problems in moral judgment and evaluation, with analysis of presuppositions and justifications used in moral discourse. Problems such as freedom and determinism, relativism and absolutism, conflicts of duties and ends, grounds of moral obligation, and choices involving personal and social goals are also studied. This course will introduce students to a number of major primary sources in the history of moral philosophy.
An analysis of philosophical problems about science. Such central concepts as law, causation, induction, hypothesis, theory, verification, and models are studied. Presuppositions and methodologies of different sciences may be examined. The relation of scientific views to moral, social, and metaphysical problems is considered.
Major issues in contemporary ethical writings. Course may be repeated once for credit if topic varies.
Topics include the role of mind, brain, and behavior in health, disease and wellness; the history, philosophy, and current status of health care systems; physiological and behavioral analyses of stress; psychoneuroimmunology; behavioral factors in cardiovascular disease, cancer, drug abuse, and weight management.
An introduction to historical and modern views of abnormal behavior and a survey of the field of psychological disorders. For nonmajors only.
Historical, aesthetic, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological approaches to the major faith traditions of our world.
An introductory study of the patterns of reflection and action which characterize the Christian moral life. Attention will be given to Christian responsibility in politics, economics, family life, and other areas of human activity.
Ethical issues in the fields of health care and other life sciences. Some of the issues studied include behavior modification, abortion, euthanasia, health care delivery, human experimentation, and genetic modification. A major research project on a selected issue approved by the professor will be required of each student.
An examination of the sociological meaning of women's roles in comparison with men's roles in our society, along with social forces that mold the lives of women. The women's movement and changes in the legal, economic, social, educational, and political arenas as they affect women are investigated. The status of women in the context of contemporary society is explored.
A sociological examination of health, illness, and the social organization of medical care in the United States. Consideration is given to race, class, gender, and age as factors influencing health, illness, and the delivery of medical care.
Site: http://www.baylor.edu/medical_humanities
C/ Hiram College-Minor & Major in Biomedical Humanities (Also offering a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Medical Humanities is also offered)
Minor
Students wishing to complete a minor in biomedical humanities choose a departmental advisor and, in conjunction with the advisor, select the courses most appropriate for them. Students taking the minor will participate in BIMD 48000, Senior Seminar or complete another departmental capstone as approved by the Biomedical Humanities Department.
Major:
The biomedical humanities major at Hiram College is an innovative and interdisciplinary area of study geared to preparing students for successful careers in a range of health care fields. This major couples an intensive science core – one that meets the requirements for medical schools – with a curriculum that utilizes courses in medical humanities enabling students to develop a balanced approach to healthcare. With an emphasis on preparing students for careers in the medical field, all biomedical humanities majors are required to participate in four internships: one in biomedical research, one in clinical shadowing and two service learning projects. Students have completed numerous off-site shadowing and service learning experiences.
Hiram students also have access to medical professionals at internationally renowned hospital systems. This level of exposure to the application of medical sciences is a distinctive feature of Hiram's biomedical humanities program and it gives our students an understanding of day-to-day working environments that is difficult to match on an undergraduate level.
Biomedical Humanities (BIMD) Minor
Requirements for the Minor
The minor consists of a minimum 20 semester hours of courses and the undertaking of service learning which is the completion of 30 documented hours in a healthcare setting.
Biomedical Humanities (BIMD) Major
Requirements for the Major
All Biomedical Humanities (BIMD) majors must choose an adviser in the program.
Core (four courses, and two 1-hour seminars):
These courses examine questions of human values in health and quality of life through study of literature and the arts, as well as the roles and limitations of bioethical principles.
BIMD How We Die
BIMD Issues in Women's Health
BIMD Health and Social Justice
INTD Narrative Bioethics
INTD Obligations to Others
INTD The Science and Ethics of Human Cloning
INTD What is Human?
INTD Aging, Sex, and the Body
BIMD Cultures of Medicine
BIMD Health and Social Justice
BIMD Issues in Women's Health
BIMD Stories of Illness and Healing
BIMD/RELG Mindfulness, Meditation, and Healing
INTD Alternative Health Care Systems
INTD Exploring Ability & Disability Through Performance: Autism Spectrum Disorder
INTD Genetics, Identity, and Popular Culture
INTD Global Health and Human Rights
INTD Gimpy Geezers: Representations of Disability and Age
INTD Images for the Living: Artistic Manifestations of Death, Burial, and Grief
INTD Pushing Up Daisies: Western Perspectives on Death and Dying
INTD The Science and Culture of Sleep
INTD What's Normal? I: Physical Abnormalities
INTD What's Normal? II: Mental and Emotional Disorders
Or any course from list A or B, or other courses as approved by the department.
Examples of seminar topics to choose from are:
Biomedical Imagination, Science in the NY Times, Maladies and Ethical Challenges, Environmental Health, You and Your Microbes, The Black Death: Plague, Medicine, Try Walking in My Shoes: Exploring the Experience of Mental Illness, The Science and Economics of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and The Politics of the Affordable Care Act.
Relational Core (two courses, two 1-hour service seminars, and a shadowing internship):
These courses provide students opportunities to explore the ways in which individuals understand and respond to one another and apply that knowledge and learned skills in new demographic contexts.
COMM 22000 Interpersonal Communication
COMM 22100 Group Interaction Processes
COMM 22200 Organizational Communication
COMM 22300 Family Communication
COMM 22500 Nonverbal Communication
COMM 25000 Communication Between Cultures
COMM 32400 Gender Communication
COMM 32600 Persuasion and Attitude Change
COMM 35300 Intercultural Health Care Communication
COMM/THEA 22400 Oral Interpretation of Literature
THEA 12000 Fundamental Principles of Acting
ENGL/THEA 20900 Shakespeare in Performance
THEA 22600 Storytelling in the Natural World
THEA 22900 Creative Dramatics
WRIT 21500 Writing About [...]
WRIT 22100 Basics of Creative Writing
WRIT 30400 Craft and Technique: Poetry
WRIT 30500 Craft and Technique: Creative Nonfiction
WRIT 30600 Craft and Technique: Fiction
WRIT 30700 Craft and Technique: Playwriting
WRIT 30900 Craft and Technique: Screenwriting
WRIT 31300 Teaching and Supervising Writing
Shadowing Internship (120 hours)
All student are required to shadow one or more healthcare practitioners during their time at Hiram College. This experience can help students feel secure in their understanding of professional environments by immersion into the system and interaction with people involved in direct patient care. Students are required to have each practitioner they shadow sign off on the experience and the number of hours completed. Students will also keep a journal of the experience.
Science Core (seven courses and a research internship):
These courses enable students to explore the form and function of living systems and to develop the theoretical and conceptual background for independent laboratory work and data analysis.
BIOL 15100 Introduction to Biology I: How Science Works
BIOL 15200 Introduction to Biology II: How Life Works
CHEM 12000 General Chemistry I: Structure and Bonding
CHEM 12100 General Chemistry II: Introduction to Chemical Analysis
MATH 10800 Statistics
BIOL 23000 Molecular and Cellular Biology
BIOL 36500 Genetics
--or--
CHEM 22000 Introduction to Organic Chemistry
CHEM 32000 Intermediate Organic Chemistry
Research Internship (120 hours)
Students must complete a minimum of 120 hours in research in natural or social sciences. Students are required to garner faculty approval for their proposed research by submitting a proposal form to the Biomedical Humanities department two semesters prior to expected graduation. Students are required to submit a letter from his or her research mentor certifying completion of the internship.
Capstone:
Senior Seminar (one course)
This capstone, in the form of two formal public presentations, reflects a student’s portfolio of educational experiences in and out of the classroom. The first presentation is a demonstration of the student’s command of her or his research. The second is a reflective, evidence-based argument documenting integration of academic and experiential learning in the medical humanities. Students completing the minor are only responsible for completing the medical humanities portion of the capstone.
MAIS
The Center for Literature and Medicine also offers courses to students in the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) program, and these students have often chosen medical humanities as their area of concentration.
Examples of MAIS courses, include, but are not limited to: "What is Normal?," "What is Sex?," and "What is Human?
D/ Stanford Medicine-Scholarly Concentration in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities
Stanford Medicine-Scholarly Concentration in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities is a new initiative by Stanford University School of Medicine that enables medical students to also study a chosen area in more depth as a complement to the knowledge and skills learned by the general medical education. The Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities (BEMH) concentration allows students to reflect on, analyze, and contribute to the meaning of medicine by focusing in one or more fields that contribute to biotethics and/or the arts and humanities as it relates to medicine. Students in this concentration examine the ethical and humanistic scope of research and practice, and also focus on different issues these students will face either in the laboratory or at a patient’s bedside. Biomedical ethics encompasses the study of ethics in biomedical research, medicine, and health care. Humanities include the traditional humanities fields of literature, philosophy, history, religion, and the arts, and also include social sciences with a orientation in the humanities such as anthropology and sociology.
Some topics studied are: the impact of medical and technologic advances (e.g., genomics, stem cell research, etc); neuroethics; history of medicine; issues of health care access and public health policy, doctor-patient relationship and communication; end of life issues; medicine and the media; medicine and society; literature and medicine; medical anthropology; empathy and the experience of illness; the arts and medicine; and many more. It is a rich interdisciplinary concentration, since students can choose among different topics that interest them. For example, an individual interested in making a film about the choices in the neonatal intensive care unit could study not only filmmaking and editing, but complement that with studies on family interactions, neonatology, issues of limited resources, etc.
Courses Available
(List of courses is not all-inclusive. The student, research advisor/mentor, and co-directors design a program tailored to the student's interests, goals and background.)
The interdisciplinary field of medical humanities: the use of the arts and humanities to examine medicine in personal, social, and cultural contexts. Topics include the doctor/patient relationship, the patient perspective, the meaning of doctoring, and the meaning of illness. Sources include visual and performing arts, film, and literary genres such as poetry, fiction, and scholarly writing.
Designed for medical students in the Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration, but all students are welcome.
The field of bioethics including theoretical approaches to bioethical problems. Contemporary controversies and clinical cases. Issues include: genetics and stem cell research; rationing; ethical issues in care at the end of life; organ transplantation issues. Values that arise in different situations and clinical encounters.
Student can then choose from courses listed below (can take multiple areas) and/or undertake directed study with any faculty member associated with the Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities concentration (4-8 units depending upon combining with Application).
Elective Courses
Biomedical Ethics Focus
History Focus
Literary/Visual/Performing Arts Focus
Social and Cultural Medicine Focus (includes Ethnicity/ Gender/ Medical Anthropology/ Language/ Linguistics/ Communication)
Qualitative Methods
Site: http://med.stanford.edu/bemh/contact.html
E/ Cleveland Clinic and Case Western University's Medical Humanities Program
http://portals.clevelandclinic.org/lcm2/Academics/Humanities/tabid/7513/Default.aspx
III. GRANT POSSIBILITIES:
A/ Awards for Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Receipt Deadline April 13, 2016 for Projects Beginning January 2017
This program supports individual faculty or staff members at Hispanic-Serving Institutions pursuing research of value to humanities scholars, students, or general audiences. Awards are designed to be flexible, allowing applicants to define the audience, type of research, award periods, and administrative arrangements that best fit their projects.
General Info:
Awards can be used for a wide range of projects that are based on humanities research. Eligible projects include pursuing research in primary and secondary materials; producing articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources; and conducting basic research leading to the improvement of an existing undergraduate course or the achievement of institutional or community research goals.”
Site: http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-hispanic-serving-institutions
B/ Collaborative Research Grants
Receipt Deadline December 9, 2015 for Projects Beginning October 2016
Collaborative Research Grants support interpretive humanities research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars, for full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years. Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; field work; applications of information technology; and technical support and services. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to the appropriate scholarly and public audiences.
General Info:
Eligible projects include
research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding of the humanities;
conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit scholarly research; and
archaeological projects that include the interpretation and dissemination of results.
Site: http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants
C/ Andrew Mellon Foundation
Through the program in Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities, the Foundation assists select colleges, universities, and research institutes in the work of training scholars and producing scholarship in the humanities broadly conceived, and thereby contributes to culture and society.
General Info:
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports a wide range of initiatives to strengthen the humanities, arts, higher education, and cultural heritage. Organizations in those fields can consult descriptions of the Foundation's areas of grant making to determine whether a project fits within the Foundation's programmatic interests and mission.
Areas of grant making:
Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities
Arts and Cultural Heritage
Diversity
Scholarly Communications
International Higher Education and Strategic Projects
Past Grant Winners
Example of Past Winner
Center for the Humanities: to support curricular and research initiatives in the humanities
Location:
New York, NY, United States
Amount Awarded:
$400,000
Site: https://mellon.org/grants/grantmaking-policies-and-guidelines/#GrantmakingAreas
D/ The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Mr. Davis envisioned his namesake foundation as a highly respectable organization with national reach and impact that would strengthen America in perpetuity through philanthropy to "religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes within the United States and its territories.
Since inception, the Foundations have given more than 2,600 grants totaling more than $300 million to colleges and universities, hospitals, medical schools and divinity schools.
General Info:
There are a number of criteria that the Foundations take into consideration when evaluating a proposal:
Evidence of support by institutional leadership;
Level of creativity/contribution to the field of education, interfaith or public educational media;
Future funding plan, lasting value to constituencies and impact regionally or nationally;
Thoughtful vision to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed program;
Careful stewardship of resources; and
Potential for replication/dissemination.
***Site states that grants would be awarded to private higher education, public educational media, and religious literacy and interfaith leadership yet examples provided below show public education has also been granted awards without having a relation with media.
Past Grant Winners
Examples of Past Winners:
1) Northeast Ohio Medical University
Building Caregiver Partnerships through Innovative Health Professions Education.
Amount
$198,596.00
Year Awarded
2014
Site: http://www.avdf.org/Grants/GrantsHistory.aspx?s=Northeast+Ohio+Medical+University
2) Wayne State University School of Medicine
Interdisciplinary "Older Adult Home Visit" program.
Amount
$124,000.00
Year Awarded
2012
Site: http://www.avdf.org/Grants/GrantsHistory.aspx?s=Wayne+State+University+School+of+Medicine
E/Other Sources of Inspiration:
Jay Clayton, chair of the English department at Vanderbilt University, was awarded the $100,000 grant on Sept. 30 by the Bethesda, Md.-based National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH. Click here for more details.
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