Medical Humanities
Medical humanities encompasses a wide range of topics, such as the representation of illness and disability in literature and the arts, the ethical and social implications of new medical technologies, the history of medicine and disease, the experience of illness and care giving, and the role of culture in shaping health beliefs and practices. It emphazises the importance of humanistic perspectives and critical thinking in medical education, research, and practice, and aims to promote a more holistic and compassionate approach to healthcare.
Other Resources
- Institute for Medical Humanities
Improving health by understanding the depth and breadth of human experience.
- The Polyphony
A web platform hosted by the Institute for Medical Humanities which aims to stimulate, catalyse, provoke, expand and intensify conversations in the critical medical humanities.
- ReLit
ReLit is the Foundation for bibliotherapy: the complementary treatment of stress, anxiety and other conditions through slow reading of great literature, especially poetry.
- The Wellcome Collection
The Wellcome Collection challenges how we think and feel about health, and creates opportunities for people to think deeply about the connections between science, medicine, life and art, through a variety of mediums.
- IASH Medical Humanities
Diverse research and teaching practices in Medical Humanities encompassing areas as such as the history of medicine, medical ethics and law, pedagogy in physician training, and medical anthropology
- BMJ Medical Humanities
Medical Humanities presents the international conversation around medicine and its engagement with the humanities and arts, social sciences, health policy, medical education, patient experience and the public at large. The journal publishes scholarly and critical articles on a broad range of topics. These include history of medicine, cultures of medicine, disability studies, gender and the body, communities in crisis, bioethics, and public health.
- The Wellcome Book Prize
The Wellcome Book Prize rewards exceptional works of literature that illuminate the many ways that health, medicine and illness touch our lives.
- LitMed
The Literature, Arts and Medicine Database (LitMed) is a collection of literature, fine art, visual art and performing art annotations created as a dynamic, comprehensive resource for scholars, educators, students, patients, and others interested in medical humanities. It was created by faculty of the New York University School of Medicine in 1993. The annotations are written by an invited editorial board of scholars from all over North America.
- Scottish Medical humanities
Humanities resources to support healthcare professionals and patients.
Podcasts
- The Nocturnists
What is working in medicine really like?
Caring for patients can be a transformative experience. On The Nocturnists podcast, doctors share stories of joy, sorrow, and self-discovery. Based on the live storytelling event of the same name, and hosted by physician Emily Silverman, this podcast is animated by a deep-seated curiosity about mortality, human connection, and how best to care for each other. - BMJ Medical Humanities
Conversations and interviews about current events, cutting edge topics, social justice and global crises from a medical and health humanities perspective, from the team behind the British Medical Journal's Medical Humanities blog. - Sickboy
Join hosts Jeremie, Brian, and Taylor as they hang out and have an unapologetic, unpolished and unfiltered discussion about what it's like to live life with a disease, in the hopes of finding humour in an otherwise taboo and sometimes dark subject. - Graphic Medicine
It has long been known that comics are “not just for kids”. Over the past decade the underrated medium of graphic novels has begun to receive recognition and acclaim from literary critics, academics, and broadsheet reviewers. Often drawing on direct experience, the author of the graphic novel builds a world into which the reader is drawn. Amongst the growing number of autobiographical works, titles dealing directly with the patient experience of illness or caring for others with an illness are to be found. - Wellcome Collection
Exploring subjects relating to medicine, life and the arts.
Youtube Videos
Articles
Articles exploring subjects relating to medicine, life and the humanities.
- Andrew Solomon, Literature about medicine may be all that can save usA new generation of doctor writers is investigating the mysteries of the medical profession, exploring the vital intersection between science and art.
- Kate Errington, The long history of the medical humanitiesGeneral history of the medical humanities; key concepts and debates.
- Hedy Wald, et al., Medical humanities in medical education and practiceExploring the reasons why medical humanities is important for medical education today.
Other Relevant Guides
