Dissent: Medical Humanities Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Could the medical humanities finally fix your doctors’ notoriously bad handwriting? Probably not, but it might inject some much-needed humanism into the medical profession.

As the subfield of medical humanities gains traction, Harvard and other universities are grappling with the prospect of expanding their offerings in this nascent area of study.

The Editorial Board offers only tepid support for the new field, arguing that STEM students should engage with pure humanities courses, not those designed specifically for future physicians.

They are wrong. The medical humanities is more than the sum of its parts — it’s crucial for educating professionals prepared to engage thoughtfully with patients.

My own experiences with insensitive doctors have left me wondering who hurt them — I could never understand why medical care so often seems separate from emotional support. Now that I am surrounded by pre-med students, I see why: Their education stamps out their humanity.

Pre-med students undergo a decade or more of brutal schooling. During that time, they are pitted against other applicants, forced to memorize droves of anatomical terms, and shoved through the biochemistry gauntlet.

With such a grueling education, the skills developed by medical humanities can help doctors recover their human touch. Students who take courses in the field learn to navigate complex interpersonal situations through material like patient narratives and prepare themselves for the emotional toll of medical work.

Pure humanities courses don’t fit the bill. Unlike courses in Shakespeare or Proust, medical humanities classes make the connection between the liberal arts and medicine explicit in a way that a general survey cannot.

Harvard’s medical humanities offerings are already showing the value of the discipline. In the spring, professor Anne Harrington ’82 will teach History of Science 1770: “Broken Brains: A Patient-Centered History,” where students read memoirs and consider ethical dilemmas. The course exposes students to patient stories and narratives, preparing them to be more understanding physicians.

It’s not just about producing better doctors though. On a much simpler level, courses in the medical humanities are one of the few incentives for pre-med students to take a humanities class at all, as they are overwhelmed by requirements and often disregard the value of a humanities education.

Harvard has a responsibility to prepare its pre-med students for the complex interactions they will be called to manage. Pure humanities courses just won’t cut it.

Olga Kerameos ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Social Studies concentrator in Mather House.

Dissenting Opinions: Occasionally, The Crimson Editorial Board is divided about the opinion we express in a staff editorial. In these cases, dissenting board members have the opportunity to express their opposition to staff opinion.