Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Enhancing humanities in medical education is a pressing concern in China. Similar to other countries, medical education in China evolved over the past century to emphasize bioscience and technology in treating illness and disease. Increasing recognition of the limitations of biomedical technology led to emergence of the medical humanities in the West in the latter half of the 20 th century, an interdisciplinary area that has continued to expand and grow. In China and elsewhere, activity in this area developed somewhat later. Ongoing patient-doctor disputes and decline in public trust in the medical profession in China has led many to advocate for enhanced emphasis on humanism and medical humanities. In 2017, the Chinese government introduced new healthcare reforms which included an education and training plan that promotes medical humanities teaching. Global developments have led to a wide variety of models and approaches that may be considered in cultivating medical humanities and humanism in China. With the support of China Medical University in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, PRC, Professor Wei visited the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta through the 2019/20 academic year. This article provides an overview of a wide array of medical humanities teaching and learning opportunities associated with the undergraduate medical education program at the University of Alberta. Professor Wei reflects on possibilities for medical humanities in medical education in China given all she learned and experienced as a visiting professor at the University of Alberta, which may be of interest to others who are also developing new approaches to introducing medical humanities as part of their health professions education program. Additional reflections regarding possibilities for global medical humanities are also offered.
Highlights
Tremendous advances in biomedical science and technology over the past century have led to many interventions that have proven effective in preventing and treating illness and disease
Increasing numbers of published reports in China have described innovative teaching approaches, and positive impact of medical humanities teaching on professionalism and humanism (Fan et al, 2016; Gong et al, 2015b; Guo et al, 2016; Huang et al, 2017; Liao and Wang, 2016; Sherer et al, 2017; Tseng et al, 2016; Wang, Kao and Liao, 2015; Wang et al, 2016; Wong et al, 2012)
In August 2019, with the generous funding support of the Chinese Medical University at Shenyang, Liaoning Province, PRC, Professor Liying Wei began a one-year visiting professorship with the MD Program at the University of Alberta. This has supported stimulating discussions between Professor Wei, and Dr Brett-MacLean (AHHM Director), Dr Goez, Coordinator of the MD Program’s "Physicianship" course, and Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness, and Dr Hillier, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education (2015-2020), as well as other faculty, staff, and students associated with the MD Program
Summary
Tremendous advances in biomedical science and technology over the past century have led to many interventions that have proven effective in preventing and treating illness and disease. An increasingly profit-motivated, technologically-oriented medical profession contributed to a disenchanted, alienated American public, which led to enhanced teaching of medical ethics and history of medicine, and introduction of narrative medicine to help students learn to listen closely and carefully to patients’ stories. These historical conditions parallel those currently supporting the growth of medical humanities in China.
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