In this piece forĀ Pacific Standard, Angira Patel discusses the role that studying the humanities can play in helping doctors become more empathetic and culturally sensitive toward their patients.
“As a philosophy major in college before medical school, I believe I learned what it means to be a good doctor equally from my humanities classes as from my science classes. Studying the humanities helps students develop critical-thinking skills, understand the viewpoints of others and different cultures, foster a just conscience, build a capacity for empathy, and become wise about emotions such as grief and loss. These are all characteristics that define a good doctor.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently released aĀ reportĀ arguing for the integration of STEM with the arts and the humanities. Given the projectedĀ increaseĀ in STEM jobs, the need for a workforce to fill them, and the prospect of a well-paying job, it’s not surprising that students are encouraged to pursue STEM fields.
At the same time, the important role of humanities in medicine is emphasized in scores of programs in the United States and around the world, includingĀ Stanford University,Ā Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, theĀ University of CaliforniaāSan Francisco, andĀ King’s College London. Meanwhile, some medical schools areĀ reworkingĀ their curricula, and peer-reviewed journals such asĀ Medical HumanitiesĀ and theĀ Journal of Medical HumanitiesĀ publish work that emphasizes the importance of the humanities for doctors.”
