The enduring effects of medical humanities on medical students : Short- and long-term impacts of 15 years of teaching a medical humanities course in a Swedish medical degree program
Bernhardsson, Katarina LU ; Mathieu, Christopher LU ; Tejera, Alexander LU
and Hagander, Lars
LU
(2025)
In Journal of Medical Humanities
- Abstract
- This article analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of medical humanities teaching at a Swedish medical degree program. The objectives, format, and core pedagogical ideas and practices of an elective course in medical humanities are presented, situating the learning experience in the wider context of medical humanities in the Nordics. We conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of course evaluations amassed over 15 years and of open-ended responses in an alumni survey sent out in 2023. Using these two sources, we compare the students’ immediate perception of medical humanities’ contribution to their education with what they discern when looking back. The students report that medical humanities teaching advances an understanding and... (More)
- This article analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of medical humanities teaching at a Swedish medical degree program. The objectives, format, and core pedagogical ideas and practices of an elective course in medical humanities are presented, situating the learning experience in the wider context of medical humanities in the Nordics. We conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of course evaluations amassed over 15 years and of open-ended responses in an alumni survey sent out in 2023. Using these two sources, we compare the students’ immediate perception of medical humanities’ contribution to their education with what they discern when looking back. The students report that medical humanities teaching advances an understanding and responsiveness to narratives and furthers an ability to balance the rational, bio-medical perspective with a more holistic empathetic view of patients and illness, providing a deeper and broader toolkit to work from in clinical practice. The students perceive that they have acquired a specific expertise, obtained training in perspective taking, and yielded personal growth and agency. The interpretative sensitivities and competencies reverberated in the alumni survey and were reported to influence subsequent clinical work. Our study suggests that the impact of medical humanities teaching is transferred to both occupational practice and personal life, and that the impact is long term. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e8de35f7-3dd9-485c-a75c-98f330f5f48d
- author
- Bernhardsson, Katarina
LU
; Mathieu, Christopher
LU
; Tejera, Alexander
LU
and Hagander, Lars
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-08-30
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Medical humanities, Medical education, Long-term follow-up, Professional development, Medical students, Medical doctors
- in
- Journal of Medical Humanities
- pages
- 20 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:40884742
- ISSN
- 1041-3545
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10912-025-09975-0
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e8de35f7-3dd9-485c-a75c-98f330f5f48d
- date added to LUP
- 2025-05-23 11:41:42
- date last changed
- 2025-09-04 03:27:27
@article{e8de35f7-3dd9-485c-a75c-98f330f5f48d,
abstract = {{This article analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of medical humanities teaching at a Swedish medical degree program. The objectives, format, and core pedagogical ideas and practices of an elective course in medical humanities are presented, situating the learning experience in the wider context of medical humanities in the Nordics. We conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of course evaluations amassed over 15 years and of open-ended responses in an alumni survey sent out in 2023. Using these two sources, we compare the students’ immediate perception of medical humanities’ contribution to their education with what they discern when looking back. The students report that medical humanities teaching advances an understanding and responsiveness to narratives and furthers an ability to balance the rational, bio-medical perspective with a more holistic empathetic view of patients and illness, providing a deeper and broader toolkit to work from in clinical practice. The students perceive that they have acquired a specific expertise, obtained training in perspective taking, and yielded personal growth and agency. The interpretative sensitivities and competencies reverberated in the alumni survey and were reported to influence subsequent clinical work. Our study suggests that the impact of medical humanities teaching is transferred to both occupational practice and personal life, and that the impact is long term.}},
author = {{Bernhardsson, Katarina and Mathieu, Christopher and Tejera, Alexander and Hagander, Lars}},
issn = {{1041-3545}},
keywords = {{Medical humanities; Medical education; Long-term follow-up; Professional development; Medical students; Medical doctors}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Journal of Medical Humanities}},
title = {{The enduring effects of medical humanities on medical students : Short- and long-term impacts of 15 years of teaching a medical humanities course in a Swedish medical degree program}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10912-025-09975-0}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10912-025-09975-0}},
year = {{2025}},
}