What are the medical humanities?
This growing interdisciplinary and interprofessional field is a fusion of the arts and humanities with healthcare. Not only are the medical humanities key for wellness and preventing burnout of healthcare providers, but research shows that a physician participating in the humanities is an improved clinician. The medical humanities enhances observation skills, critical thinking and creativity. It can also help in the preservation of empathy and compassion.
The Medical Humanities Program at Dalhousie University was started in 1992 by Dr. Jock Murray, and has been thriving since. We are one of the leading universities in North America when it comes to this field of study, with opportunities for medical students, faculty and community members to get involved.
Who is the medical humanities for?
The short answer is, the medical humanities is for everyone. Here are some ways to get involved:
Awards
The Medical Humanities program at Dalhousie is pleased to support a number of awards.
Meet Our People
Arundhati Dhara, MD, MPH, CCFP
Co-Director, Medical Humanities (DMNS)
Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine
Dr. Dhara is a family physician and hospitalist. In addition to her work as Co-Director, she is an Associate Editor for the Third Rail at CFP and a physician advisor with government. Her academic interests include using the humanities as a pedagogical tool for challenging medical skills and competencies including advocacy, communication and collaboration. Outside of work she can be found taking care of her family and friends, and preparing, eating and dreaming about food.
Sarah Fraser, MD, MSc, CCFP
Co-Director, Medical Humanities-HEALS (DMNS)
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Dr. Fraser is a family physician. In addition to her work as Co-Director, she is Associate Scientific Editor/Humanities at the medical journal Canadian Family Physician. She believes that the health humanities are key to reforming medicine, for the better. Her particular interest is the combination of writing and medicine. In her free time she enjoys being with nature, dancing kizomba and learning languages.
Wendy Stewart, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Director, Medical Humanities (DMNB)
Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics
Dr. Stewart is a paediatric neurologist and medical educator. She seeks to provide students and practitioners exposure to the humanities to maintain a sense of self, foster professional identity formation, develop a deeper understanding of the patient experience and to enhance their skills in self-reflection. Her research interests incorporate the use of various humanities media to foster critical thinking and understand the patient experience.
Music is her passion outside medicine. She was classically trained in accordion at the Dundee Accordion School of Music in Scotland and has been playing since she was 9 years old. She has been involved in musical fundraising for more than 20 years and has played with various musical groups and entertained as a soloist, member of a duet and in bands. She is currently a member of the band, The Cool Chicks and the Ugly Doclings, a group of health professionals and one teacher. The band performs regularly to raise funds for not for profit organizations and are well known in the Saint John area. She enjoys the outdoors, specifically paddle boarding, kayaking and cycling.
AnaBela Sardinha
Administrative secretary, Medical Humanities
AnaBela provides administrative support and is ready to answer all your questions. She is also interested in cooking, sewing, singing, and playing guitar. In the summer you will often find her in her garden.
DMNB Humanities
There is an active Humanities Program at the distributed medical program in Saint John, NB. The distributed program opened its doors to the first students in 2010. Since that time, the students have had the opportunity to be involved in the humanities program and have participated in joint concerts and other activities via video conference with the Halifax site. Want more information? Visit DNMB Humanities at http://medicine.dal.ca/departments/core-units/DMNB/education/facilities.html