Elective Years 3 and 4: Directed Studies in Medical/Health Humanities

Department: Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine (AHHM) Program, Undergraduate Medical Education
Title:

Directed Studies in Medical/Health Humanities

Diversification = Not classified

Location: Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Duration:

2 - 3 weeks

Contact:

Please contact Dr Pamela Brett-MacLean,  pbrett@ualberta.ca 
before requesting this elective through MedSIS

Placement Contact:  Lisa Bussiere ahhm@ualberta.ca

Visiting Medical Students: contact visitingelectives@ualberta.ca

Overview:

This elective provides an opportunity for 3rd and 4th year students to undertake an inquiry relevant to the medical/ health humanities.

A broad, interdisciplinary field, the medical/ health humanities encompasses a range of disciplines, including philosophy and ethics, history, literature, law, religious studies/ spirituality, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, film, etc. These various disciplinary perspectives provide critical insights into human and socio-cultural dimensions of illness and healthcare experiences, which can help to foster understanding, care and compassion, self-reflection, action and advocacy.

During the process of exploring recent developments in the area of medical/ health humanities (through online searches, and published literatures), students identify reference and/ or resource material that relates to their area of interest. After identifying a relatively concise, yet complex, question relevant to medicine, students work on developing a critical social sciences or humanities-based approach to exploring their question. A combination of selected readings, consultation with faculty scholars and clinical experts, family and patient representatives, and other experiential learning options may be proposed.

Students are required to present on outcomes of their inquiry as part of the AHHM Occasional Speaker Series.

A pass/ fail grade will be assigned and narrative assessment will be given of the student's effort (as per the standard "Assessment of Elective Performance" form). Students will be invited to complete a feedback form to help the elective coordinators improve this elective experience for students in subsequent years.

This elective requires an approved project proposal prior to submission of an elective application. Students interested in this elective are encouraged to arrange a meeting with Dr. Pamela Brett-MacLean.

Objectives:
  1. To introduce medical students to the field of medical/health humanities, and it's application to medical education and clinical practice
  2. To support medical students in exploring and reflecting on interdisciplinary perspectives related to medicine in a personally relevant way.
Additional Notes:

For an example of a completed medical/ health humanities directed studies clerkship elective project, see Nunan, D. (2011). Fault lines: Scars as text in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and Anil's GhostUniversity of Alberta Health Sciences Journal, 6(1), 14-16.

Also, see Kyra Harris' AHHM Occasional Speaker Series presentation on "The Highly Sensitive Physician: Sensitivity and Intuition" (Oct, 2015) - https://connect.srv.ualberta.ca/p2k5yv7ilb5 (via Adobe Connect).

Students may seek to publish on some aspect of their work in a medical humanities journal (e.g., Ars Medica, CMAJ's Humanities section), medical education journal (e.g., CMEJ), or other publications. Although not a requirement of the elective, students will be provided with advice should they be interested in pursuing this opportunity.

This elective, along with other AHHM electives, exists to support medical students in broadening their intellectual and clinical/ practice-based horizons, in particular with respect to the intersections that exist between the arts and humanities in relation to medicine.               

Last Updated: June 2, 2021