Incorporation of the Humanities Component in the Medical Curriculum

Abstract

In the current setup, the delivery of medical education primarily targets the scientific and technical domain with minimal consideration about the humanity aspect. The training offered to the medical students as a part of humanity helps them to acquire the skills to make ethical decisions, keeping the interests of the patients, family members, and the community in mind. An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was carried out in the PubMed search engine and the Medical Council of India website. A total of 15 articles were selected based on the suitability with the current review objectives. The introduction of medical humanities in the curriculum can be either done in the form of integration across the different professional years or it can be kept optional for the students. It is quite obvious that mere exposing students to medical humanities will not deliver the desired outcomes unless they are being assessed as well to measure the learning. In conclusion, the training offered to the medical students during their course not only targets clinical judgment but even humane judgment. Humanities is an integral aspect of patient care and it is high time that it is integrated within the curriculum based on the well-formulated educational objectives and a comprehensive assessment framework.

Keywords

• curriculum
• humanities
• medical education
• medical humanity