BONUS EPISODE: Embracing the Medical Humanities

NOTE: We recorded this bonus episode before the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to cancel the HEAART lecture series. We hope to re-launch it sometime in 2021. Today, we’re talking about the Medical Humanities with Linda Raphael, PhD, who directs the Medical Humanities Program and Track here at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Raphael brings to this discipline a background of teaching and scholarship in 19th and 20th century American and British literature, holocaust literature, and philosophy. Dr. Raphael holds an MA in History and a Ph.D. in English and studied philosophy as a postgraduate at Oxford University. She was a faculty member at Ohio State University before joining the faculty in the GW Department of English in 1996. In 2005, she developed courses in narrative and medicine and became the Director of Medical Humanities at SMHS. Her research and writing are increasingly directed toward narrative and medicine, including “how doctors listen to patients” and “what patients want in a physician.” We discuss the following: 1. What are the Medical Humanities? 2. How were you introduced to the Medical Humanities? 3. How do the Medical Humanities impact patient care? 4. What does the research tell us about the benefits of the Medical Humanities? 5. Tell us a little bit about your research and writing on narrative and medicine. 6. How do you incorporate the Medical Humanities into physician wellness? ◘ Related Content GW Office of Medical Humanities https://smhs.gwu.edu/medicalhumanities/ Medical Humanities: An international journal published by the BMJ https://mh.bmj.com/ The Importance of Medical Humanities https://www.mededpublish.org/manuscripts/1958 Why are medical humanities relevant in an era of technologically-driven healthcare? https://www.healthethicsblog.com/single-post/2018/02/21/why-are-medical-humanities-relevant-in-an-era-of-technologically-driven-healthcare ◘ Transcript http://bit.ly/2IYEuwe ◘ This podcast features the song “Follow Your Dreams” (freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Ho…ur_Dreams_1918) by Scott Holmes, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial (01https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) license. ◘ Disclaimer: The content and information shared in GW Integrative Medicine is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. The views and opinions expressed in GW Integrative Medicine represent the opinions of the host(s) and their guest(s). For medical advice, diagnosis, and/or treatment, please consult a medical professional.