Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

Medical Humanities or Humanism in Medicine?

The medical humanities offer a wider view of what is involved in the doctor-patient relationship, allowing us to consider this encounter from perspectives that are not available in most medical school´s curriculums, mostly oriented towards the biomedical sciences. These new perspectives are provided by multiple sources: bioethics, the history of medicine and biology, philosophy, cultural anthropology, language and communication, narrative technique, literature and medicine, art and medicine, medicine and law, medical sociology, and health economics. From this multidisciplinary vision, the doctor in training can expand the context of the doctor-patient relationship, developing at the same time critical thinking around these interrelated fields of knowledge, all concerned with and revolving around the human condition of the patient ("Humanism in Medicine").

The teaching of medical humanities in undergraduate training is justified since its purpose is to ensure that the abstract medical view is not only a scientific and technical one but also a human and compassionate view that accepts and respects the personal dignity of the patient, whether diagnostic, curative or palliative. Education on medical humanities is beneficial not only for the patient but also for the medical student/future medical professional since it reinforces a sense of purpose as well as the resilience needed to progress and prosper in medicine.

"The medical humanities should not be considered as pure erudition about medicine and the patient-doctor relationship; the medical humanities should be thought and reflected upon through the human gaze". (Pera, C. JANO 1999)

It is a sine qua non condition that the physician's technical gaze must pass through the human gaze and that the physician must be aware that the patient puts himself in his hands.

Despite the enormous technological and informatic advances in medicine in the last five decades, the core of its mission can still be found in the relationship between two people: the doctor and the patient. As Lester Liao states, “Treating the physician as person facilitates treating the patient as person. Recognizing humanity in us all is the foundation of the framework.”  (Lester Liao. Can Med Edu J, 2017)

This elective course is fundamentally devoted to this relationship, and to exploring the humanity at the core of medicine.

About the program

This 10-week elective course will provide students with a broad exposure to several aspects of medical humanities which are pertinent to their future careers as

physicians.

The elective will be divided into 4 sections: Bedside Manner, Literature, Language and Medicine, Narrative Medicine, Visual Arts + Medicine.

The elective will provide a platform for students to engage in discussions with peers and professors and discuss topics often not included in the medical school curriculum. The goal of the elective is to encourage students to understand and appreciate the role of humanities in their development as caring, thoughtful and empathic physicians. The main emphasis will focus on the patient-doctor relationship.

Main Objective: Restore the person to the centre of the patient-doctor encounter.

Who should apply?

All those medical students who would like to explore the interconnection between the sciences and the humanities in medicine, in general, and, specifically, in the doctor-patient relationship.

Associated skills

Learning competences

By the end of this elective students should be able to:

1. Apply the professional values of excellence, altruism, sense of duty, responsibility, integrity, and honesty to the practice of the profession [MSH13].

2.  Know how to approach professional practice with respect for patient autonomy, beliefs, and culture [MSH15].

3. Distinguish between disease and illness [MSH49].

4. Understand and be able to apply critical thinking / reasoning to their work [MSH50]

5. Learn about empathy and emotions and their importance in the practice of medicine [MSH51].

6. Develop the ability to listen to and interpret the wishes and needs of patients [MSH52]

7. Understand the importance of diversity in medicine [MSH53].

8. Learn to appreciate and learn from uncertainty [MSH54].

9. Comprehend how the humanities can increase professional well-being and resilience and reduce the loss of the idealism that led them to study medicine, and potential burnout [MSH55].

10. Theoretical and practical training in narrative techniques in general, and in medical narrative [MSH56].

11. Build verbal and interpersonal communication skills through observation, description, and analysis of works of film, narrative, and the visual arts [MSH57].

Learning outcomes

1. Be able to apply the professional values of excellence, altruism, sense of duty, responsibility, integrity, and honesty to the practice of medicine.

2.  Knowing how to approach professional practice with respect for patient autonomy, beliefs and culture.

3. Be able to distinguish between disease and illness.

4. To understand and be able to apply critical thinking and reasoning to their work

5. To learn about empathy and emotions and their importance in the practice of medicine.

6. Be able to develop the ability to listen to and interpret the wishes and needs of patients.

7. Understand the importance of diversity in medicine.

8. To appreciate and learn from uncertainty.

9. To better comprehend how the humanities can increase professional well-being and resilience, reducing the loss of the idealism that led the students to study medicine and avoiding potential burnout.

10. Integration of theoretics and practice in narrative techniques in general, and in medical narrative in particular.

11. Building of verbal and interpersonal communication skills through observation, description, and analysis of works of film, narrative, and visual arts.

Sustainable Development Goals

# Good health and well-being

# Quality education

# Partnerships for the goals

Prerequisites

None

Contents

Methodology 

• Guest lectures 
• Seminars 
• Reading-based discussions 
• Debates 
• Films 
• Reverse Lectures (students are sent videos to watch and then they discuss the ideas in the videos with the professor in class)

Programme

Faculty

The core curriculum is taught by interdisciplinary and interprofessional teams.  The teaching faculty will be made up of experts from both clinical and humanities disciplines.

List of Faculty  

• Jonathan McFarland (Associate Professor, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain and President, The Doctor as a Humanist)
• Manuel Pera (Professor of Surgery, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Head, Section of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain)
• Joaquim Gea (Professor of Medicine, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain)
• Javier Aparicio Maydeu (Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain)
• Susana Magalhaes (Researcher in Narrative Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal)
• Jacek Mostwin (Professor of Urology, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, US)
• Ourania Varsou (Anatomy Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK)
• David Kopacz (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Washington, US)
• Emil Toescu (Neuroscientist, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK)
• Sorin Costreie (Associate Professor, Department of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Romania)
• Gabriela Florea (Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Romania)
• Theodora Tseligka (Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Greece)
• Philip Davis (Emeritus Professor of Literature and Psychology). University of Liverpool
• Gavin Francis (General Practitioner + Writer, Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Rosa Estopà (Associate Professor, Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)
• Maria Giulia Marini (Professor of Narrative Medicine at Fondazione ISTUD Health and at Hunimed University, Milan, President of EUNAMES)
• Josep Eladi-Baños (Professor of Pharmacology, Rector, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Spain)
• Irene Cambra-Badii (Associate Professor, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Spain.
• Albert Clara (Associate Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra + Head of Vascular Surgery, Hospital del Mar, Spain)

Teaching Methods

Methodology

• Guest lectures 
• Seminars 
• Reading-based discussions 
• Debates 
• Films 
• Reverse Lectures (students are sent videos to watch and then they discuss the ideas in the videos with the professor in class)

Evaluation

Assessment

This course will be graded pass/fail. In order to pass, students should:

• Attendance: Students are expected to attend every scheduled activity of the class.
• In-class participation (20%): Participation is essential for lectures, seminars and practicals. Coming to seminars/debates having read the assigned texts and ready to share your thoughts.
• Weekly short writings assignments (250 words) to be posted in the elective website (Aula Global UPF) (20%)
• Short papers (500 words) to different works from the class (30%)
• Final collaborative project (30%): Students will produce a collaborative final project and at the end of the elective, they will present their project.

Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

Medical Humanities or Humanism in Medicine?

The medical humanities offer a wider view of what is involved in the doctor-patient relationship, allowing us to consider this encounter from perspectives that are not available in most medical school´s curriculums, mostly oriented towards the biomedical sciences. These new perspectives are provided by multiple sources: bioethics, the history of medicine and biology, philosophy, cultural anthropology, language and communication, narrative technique, literature and medicine, art and medicine, medicine and law, medical sociology, and health economics. From this multidisciplinary vision, the doctor in training can expand the context of the doctor-patient relationship, developing at the same time critical thinking around these interrelated fields of knowledge, all concerned with and revolving around the human condition of the patient ("Humanism in Medicine").

The teaching of medical humanities in undergraduate training is justified since its purpose is to ensure that the abstract medical view is not only a scientific and technical one but also a human and compassionate view that accepts and respects the personal dignity of the patient, whether diagnostic, curative or palliative. Education on medical humanities is beneficial not only for the patient but also for the medical student/future medical professional since it reinforces a sense of purpose as well as the resilience needed to progress and prosper in medicine.

"The medical humanities should not be considered as pure erudition about medicine and the patient-doctor relationship; the medical humanities should be thought and reflected upon through the human gaze". (Pera, C. JANO 1999)

It is a sine qua non condition that the physician's technical gaze must pass through the human gaze and that the physician must be aware that the patient puts himself in his hands.

Despite the enormous technological and informatic advances in medicine in the last five decades, the core of its mission can still be found in the relationship between two people: the doctor and the patient. As Lester Liao states, “Treating the physician as person facilitates treating the patient as person. Recognizing humanity in us all is the foundation of the framework.”  (Lester Liao. Can Med Edu J, 2017)

This elective course is fundamentally devoted to this relationship, and to exploring the humanity at the core of medicine.

About the program

This 10-week elective course will provide students with a broad exposure to several aspects of medical humanities which are pertinent to their future careers as

physicians.

The elective will be divided into 4 sections: Bedside Manner, Literature, Language and Medicine, Narrative Medicine, Visual Arts + Medicine.

The elective will provide a platform for students to engage in discussions with peers and professors and discuss topics often not included in the medical school curriculum. The goal of the elective is to encourage students to understand and appreciate the role of humanities in their development as caring, thoughtful and empathic physicians. The main emphasis will focus on the patient-doctor relationship.

Main Objective: Restore the person to the centre of the patient-doctor encounter.

Who should apply?

All those medical students who would like to explore the interconnection between the sciences and the humanities in medicine, in general, and, specifically, in the doctor-patient relationship.

Associated skills

Learning competences

By the end of this elective students should be able to:

1. Apply the professional values of excellence, altruism, sense of duty, responsibility, integrity, and honesty to the practice of the profession [MSH13].

2.  Know how to approach professional practice with respect for patient autonomy, beliefs, and culture [MSH15].

3. Distinguish between disease and illness [MSH49].

4. Understand and be able to apply critical thinking / reasoning to their work [MSH50]

5. Learn about empathy and emotions and their importance in the practice of medicine [MSH51].

6. Develop the ability to listen to and interpret the wishes and needs of patients [MSH52]

7. Understand the importance of diversity in medicine [MSH53].

8. Learn to appreciate and learn from uncertainty [MSH54].

9. Comprehend how the humanities can increase professional well-being and resilience and reduce the loss of the idealism that led them to study medicine, and potential burnout [MSH55].

10. Theoretical and practical training in narrative techniques in general, and in medical narrative [MSH56].

11. Build verbal and interpersonal communication skills through observation, description, and analysis of works of film, narrative, and the visual arts [MSH57].

Learning outcomes

1. Be able to apply the professional values of excellence, altruism, sense of duty, responsibility, integrity, and honesty to the practice of medicine.

2.  Knowing how to approach professional practice with respect for patient autonomy, beliefs and culture.

3. Be able to distinguish between disease and illness.

4. To understand and be able to apply critical thinking and reasoning to their work

5. To learn about empathy and emotions and their importance in the practice of medicine.

6. Be able to develop the ability to listen to and interpret the wishes and needs of patients.

7. Understand the importance of diversity in medicine.

8. To appreciate and learn from uncertainty.

9. To better comprehend how the humanities can increase professional well-being and resilience, reducing the loss of the idealism that led the students to study medicine and avoiding potential burnout.

10. Integration of theoretics and practice in narrative techniques in general, and in medical narrative in particular.

11. Building of verbal and interpersonal communication skills through observation, description, and analysis of works of film, narrative, and visual arts.

Sustainable Development Goals

# Good health and well-being

# Quality education

# Partnerships for the goals

Prerequisites

None

Contents

Methodology 

• Guest lectures 
• Seminars 
• Reading-based discussions 
• Debates 
• Films 
• Reverse Lectures (students are sent videos to watch and then they discuss the ideas in the videos with the professor in class)

Programme

Faculty

The core curriculum is taught by interdisciplinary and interprofessional teams.  The teaching faculty will be made up of experts from both clinical and humanities disciplines.

List of Faculty  

• Jonathan McFarland (Associate Professor, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain and President, The Doctor as a Humanist)
• Manuel Pera (Professor of Surgery, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Head, Section of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain)
• Joaquim Gea (Professor of Medicine, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain)
• Javier Aparicio Maydeu (Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain)
• Susana Magalhaes (Researcher in Narrative Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal)
• Jacek Mostwin (Professor of Urology, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, US)
• Ourania Varsou (Anatomy Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK)
• David Kopacz (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Washington, US)
• Emil Toescu (Neuroscientist, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK)
• Sorin Costreie (Associate Professor, Department of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Romania)
• Gabriela Florea (Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Romania)
• Theodora Tseligka (Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Greece)
• Philip Davis (Emeritus Professor of Literature and Psychology). University of Liverpool
• Gavin Francis (General Practitioner + Writer, Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Rosa Estopà (Associate Professor, Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)
• Maria Giulia Marini (Professor of Narrative Medicine at Fondazione ISTUD Health and at Hunimed University, Milan, President of EUNAMES)
• Josep Eladi-Baños (Professor of Pharmacology, Rector, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Spain)
• Irene Cambra-Badii (Associate Professor, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya, Spain.
• Albert Clara (Associate Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra + Head of Vascular Surgery, Hospital del Mar, Spain)

Teaching Methods

Methodology

• Guest lectures 
• Seminars 
• Reading-based discussions 
• Debates 
• Films 
• Reverse Lectures (students are sent videos to watch and then they discuss the ideas in the videos with the professor in class)

Evaluation

Assessment

This course will be graded pass/fail. In order to pass, students should:

• Attendance: Students are expected to attend every scheduled activity of the class.
• In-class participation (20%): Participation is essential for lectures, seminars and practicals. Coming to seminars/debates having read the assigned texts and ready to share your thoughts.
• Weekly short writings assignments (250 words) to be posted in the elective website (Aula Global UPF) (20%)
• Short papers (500 words) to different works from the class (30%)
• Final collaborative project (30%): Students will produce a collaborative final project and at the end of the elective, they will present their project.