Current Student Perspectives
We are delighted to share current student perspectives on the meaning of the Medical Humanities to their intellectual and personal lives.
“I am from Black Rock, Connecticut, majoring in Healthcare Management and Policy and minoring in Medical Humanities. I am very interested in health system operations, health equity, and bioethics. I chose the Medical Humanities minor because it brings together my interests in healthcare, history, ethics, and culture while also centering perspectives that are often left out of traditional biomedical discussions. I am currently very excited about my Medical Anthropology course, where we aim to examine medical systems from a cross-cultural perspective”
Ruth Morgan (SOH’ 27)
“I’m Michael Cormack (CAS’28) from Manhattan Beach, California. I’m on the pre-med track and currently deciding between Biochemistry and Neurobiology. I have always loved history, and Medical Humanities has been the perfect way to bring that interest together with medicine. For my final project in Intro to Medical Humanities, I created To See and Be Seen: A Visual History of Diagnosis, a digital museum exhibit exploring the evolution of diagnostic techniques, from early visual practices to MRI and digital brain imaging. This semester, I’m excited to take Art & the Power of Observation to continue exploring my interest in the visual side of medicine.”
Micheal Cormack (CAS’28)
“I am a junior majoring in Computer Science, Ethics, and Society, passionate about responsible AI, policy, and biotech. I chose Medical Humanities to investigate how technological design can respect patient narratives and the social realities that shape care. As someone outside the pre-med track, I’ve found the program offers a rigorous framework to critique and develop solutions across interpersonal fields.
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“Medical Humanities is one of my true passions that exemplifies how medicine is both an art and a science. The stories we are privileged and honored to know from patients and the knowledge that is passed down through clinician mentoring
are firmly rooted in the humanities. I truly believe it is not possible to be a competent physician without engaging with the arts and the humanities alongside science.
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Alumni Perspectives
We are delighted to share trainee & alumni perspectives on the meaning of the Medical Humanities to their intellectual and personal lives.
“Working with the Medical Humanities Initiative has been one of the highlights during my time as a resident. Having trained in the largest safety net hospital in DC, I’ve had the opportunity to serve patients facing not just complex medical illnesses, but also challenging socio-economic situations. Providing medical care to persons experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, linguistic barriers, uninsured or undocumented statuses has strengthened my belief on the need for medicine to address the structural barriers impacting our patients.”
Vinayak Jain (MWHC IM Residency ‘24)
“I believe the medical humanities are not solely an academic discipline, but a mechanism for achieving health justice.”
Ella Castanier (CAS’24)
“The medical humanities shape us, inform how we practice medicine and how we approach our patients, and impact medicine at all levels including socioeconomic, political, personal, and spiritual.”
Schuyler Gaillard (SOM’24)
“What I love most about the medical humanities is its focus on the human in medicine. It investigates medicine in the context of the people both giving and receiving care.
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“Minoring in medical humanities has been an experience where I can explore interests not limited to the traditional medical world. Both in and outside of the classroom, my minor has equipped me with a perspective I bring to birthwork, writing, and academic dialogue. I am so grateful for the structures the Medical Humanities Initiative has put into place to cultivate connections and continued insight.
(Women and Gender Studies Major, Medical Humanities Minor)”
“As a STEM major, this minor and department ensure I don’t boil my education down to molecules or equations. It asks me to engage with what it means to be human; it asks me to engage with humanity.
(Biochemistry Major, Medical Humanities Minor)”
“For me, the medical humanities tethers me to the reasons why I chose medicine as a career. Classes in this field allow students to explore how profoundly social, cultural, historical, and political forces shape the way healthcare is provided and received. What initially drew me to this initiative was the promise to critically read stories centered on illness experiences and suffering. Stories consider many ethical dimensions. They diversify thought, bridge differences, and challenge all of us to see a world beyond our own and through other visions. Like stories, I believe that medicine summons its practitioners to do the same with their patients. ”
Siva Rajamarthandan (SOM’23)
“ Being a STEM major, approaching medicine via the lens of literature and history versus the typical scientific approach added important context to the topics covered in my other classes.”
Jacob DeAnnuntis (COL’23)