Course Descriptions

Humanism through Humanities:
Third Year Pediatric Clerkship
(2000-Current)

Penny Murata, M.D.,
Johanna Shapiro, Ph.D.

Objectives

Students will understand how medical humanities can promote empathy for pediatric patients and their families
Students will understand how medical humanities can promote child advocacy
Students will be able to describe ethical issues in pediatrics
Students will be able to reflect on their clinical experiences in a creative manner that facilitates their understanding of the patient-caregiver-physician interaction

There are six Pediatrics Clerkship rotations per academic year, with approximately 16 students per rotation. Students are required to complete a "humanities" project for a student conference held near the end of their eight-week Pediatrics Clerkship. The project may be based on child advocacy, ethics, physician-patient-family relationship, or any other aspect of the clinical experience. Students may choose the format. They may work individually or in pairs, as long as each student participates. Instructions for the project are provided during the Pediatrics orientation and are included in the clerkship manual. The humanities conference is the final conference and usually lasts for one and one-half hours. After each presentation, other students are free to comment. Comments and discussion points are made or facilitated by the Director of Medical Humanities and the Pediatrics Clerkship Director.

Projects have been presented in a variety of formats - poetry, skits, song, point of view narrative, patient education pamphlets, scrapbook or artistic collage of pediatric patient experiences, narrative, drawings, readings - and have focused on a variety of topics -ie., child's fear of upcoming surgery, frustrations in the outpatient clinic, dealing with death and dying]. The emotions expressed in the projects include a wide range as well, such as humor, anger, sadness, confusion, and frustration. Students discuss their feelings about taking care of patients (including patients with chronic medical conditions and victims of abuse), interacting with parents and caregivers, being students, interacting with residents, and ethical issues.

Informal student feedback regarding the sessions has been positive. Some students report that while attempting to create a project may have been troublesome, they ultimately enjoyed completing and sharing their projects and experiencing the projects of others. Based on the projects and ensuing discussions, students demonstrate empathy for pediatric patients and an awareness of issues in child advocacy and ethics. An additional benefit is that students show tremendous support for each other. Also, the faculty who facilitate the humanities conference develop a greater understanding of students' experiences and feelings that may not be apparent in routine conferences or clinical situations. At this point, it is not clear whether the projects and discussions beneficially affect students' interactions with patients and others; whether participation in the project improves student ability to cope with stress; and whether students will continue to utilize the humanities to further their insights into patient care once they have completed this required experience . Future course evaluation forms will request additional student feedback on the humanities project, such as the perceived impact of the project on student-patient-caregiver communication and student coping; and the likelihood of the student continuing to participate in humanities-based adult learning in the future.