Medical Humanities and Pulse

Medical humanities is a field of learning that uses humanities, social sciences and the arts to explore the human experience of health and illness–and applies that perspective to medical education and the practice of medicine.

Medical humanities is taught to undergraduates in English courses, with reading lists that include the writings of Anton Chekhov, Atul Gawande, Leo Tolstoy and William Carlos Williams.

During medical training, medical humanities can take the form of visits to museums, where trainees are encouraged to examine artwork and imagine themselves as participants in the scenes they are observing.

An invaluable resource for medical humanities educators and students, Pulse offers a constantly renewing supply of stories, poems, haiku and visuals that explore the human experience of illness and healing.

Here’s a sampling from our archives:

Nothing to Hide: A attending physician sheds tears

The Man Who Handed Me His Poop: A medical student and a terminally ill patient share a laugh

Two Timelines: A military widow shares how doctors and their staffs failed her husband

My Patient, My Friend: A heart surgeon makes a mistake

Nineteen Steps: A nurse counts out her day