Course Descriptions

The Uses of Literature in Behavioral Science Training
(1999 - Current)

Johanna Shapiro, Ph.D., Director of Medical Humanities;
Patricia Lenahan, LCSW, Behavioral Science Director;
UCI Department of Family Medicine

Description: Literature and medicine is a required component of the behavioral sciences curriculum in the UC Irvine Department of Family Medicine. The curriculum is organized in a three year cycle (corresponding to the residency training period) and covers topics such as doctor-patient relationship, common psychological disorders, domestic violence, death and dying. Each behavioral science topic is explored during a weekly noon conference for either a 4 or 8 week period, during which time a series of lecture/discussion groups is presented examining the topic at hand from a variety of perspectives. For each topic, at least one of the required presentations is a literature and medicine session.

Participants: All 36 family practice residents.

Faculty: Johanna Shapiro, Ph.D., Director of Medical Humanities in Family Medicine; and guest faculty, including the program’s behavioral science director and family physician faculty.

Objectives: The goals for participants in this component of the behavioral science training program are as follows:

To learn how reading fictional work can supplement understanding of common psychosocial aspects of primary care medicine
To learn about behavioral science topics from a perspective that is particular, local, and subjective
To develop skills of emotional self-exploration and self-disclosure
To develop increased empathy for patients and medical situations that are often perceived as difficult and frustrating
To link insights of literature to clinical experience

Format: Approximately 15 residents per session participate in a monthly, 50 minute noon "conference." During this time, brief fictional literary selections that can be read on-site are distributed. Sometimes a "mini-lecture" (10 minutes) is presented that highlights the main teaching points for each selection. Residents take turns reading aloud and discussing. Readings favor contemporary poetry and role-plays developed from longer fictional works.

Required Reading: The following modules have been developed and taught

Beginning internship: "Gaudeamus Igitur" John Stone

Stresses in residency: "Technology and Medicine" Rafael Campo; "The Log of Pi" Marc Straus; "Clinic Blues for a Warm Friday in February" Richard Donze; "The Promise" Veneta Masson; "Who Looks After Your Kids?" Kristen Emmott; "Magic" Louis Alper; "Chromatic" Stacy Keen; "Curandero" Rafael Campo; "Postcall" Rachel Rose

Doctor-patient relationship: "Doctor" David Ignatow; "The Doctor Who Sits" Josephine Miles; "The Patient Examines the Doctor" Anatole Broyard; "Outpatient" Rosalind Warren; "Fetishes" Richard Selzer

Difficult patients: "Brute" Richard Selzer; "The Use of Force" William Carlos Williams; "Doc in a Box" (excerpt) Robert Burton; "Case History" Danny Abse; "Free Health Care" Mark Ziloski; "Case Study" Christine Parkhurst; "Old Lady Patient" Cortney Davis; "The Basic Question" James Black; "Diabetes" James Dickey; "Second Thoughts" Tillman Farley; "Slap Those Doctors" Jack Coulehan; "F.P." Rafael Campo; "Maria" Rafael Campo; "The Conversion" Howard Stein

Doctor as healer: "Shamanic Journey" Kristen Emmott; "Magic" Louis Alper; "The Knitted Glove" Jack Coulehan; "Therapy" John Wright; "Delivery" Erin (ob patient)

Alcoholism: "I Won’t Tell" Joan, ACA; "She Was My Mother, Bless Her Soul" Jane ACA; "Daughters of the Bottle" Jane ACA; "Old Doc Rivers" (excerpt) William Carlos Williams; "Two Suffering Men" Eugene Hirsch; "Keeping Secrets" (excerpt) Suzanne Somers; "If the River Was Whiskey" T. Coraghessan Boyle; "The Power of Inclination" Jack Coulehan

Geriatrics: "John Doe" Rafael Campo; "Lousy on Admission" Michael Crichton; "Old Lady Patient" Cortney Davis; "Sunsets" Jack Coulehan; "Dr. Cahn’s Visit" (excerpt) Richard Stern; "Aging Gratefully" John Graham-Pole; "Nursing Home" Barry Spacks; "Forsythia" James Sedwick

Taking a sexual history: "A Medical Diptych" Ronald Pies; "Love-Sickness" Jack Coulehan; "Your Voice" Rafael Campo; "Sonnet" Elizabeth Barrett Browning; "Invasions" Perri Klass; "Tell Me, Tell Me" Irving Zola; "We Are Nighttime Travelers" (excerpt) Ethan Canin

Eating disorders: "Hunger Point" (excerpt) Jillian Medoff; "Inner Hunger" (excerpt) Marianne Apostolides; "Eve’s Apple" (excerpt) Jonathan Rosen; "Goodbye, Paper Doll" (excerpt) Anne Snyder

Bad news: "What the Doctor Said" Raymond Carver; "Good News" Jack Coulehan; "Talking to the Family" John Stone; "The Origin of Music" Danny Abse; "Candor" John Graham-Pole

Death and dying: "If the Doctors Are Right" Aimee Grunberger; "Death Psalm" Denise Levertov; "Do Not Go Gentle" Dylan Thomas; "Stages of Grief" Linda Pastan; "My Death" Raymond Carver; "Last Will" Alvin Laster; "Skinwalkers" Jack Coulehan

Cross-cultural medicine: "Fathering" (excerpt) Bharati Mukherjee; "The Appointment" Lawrence Schneiderman; "Medicine Stone" Jack Coulehan; "What is Lost" Peter Pereira; "Barra de Navidad" Iris Litt; "Strong Horse Tea" Alice Walker

Evaluation: Residents complete a standard conference evaluation form that assesses the relevance of the material presented and the extent to which the experience has involved new learning.

Course Descriptions

The Uses of Literature in Behavioral Science Training (1999 - Current)

The Uses of Literature in Behavioral Science Training
(1999 - Current)