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Articles on Medical humanities

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An imaginative watercolor drawing by Madison Zhao inviting students to enter the ‘Schools of Color.’ Madison Zhao/Courtesy of Marcia Brennan

This university class uses color and emotion to explore the end of life

Exploring colors can help discuss abstract, challenging topics in concrete ways – especially experiences doctors and caregivers may encounter caring for people at the end of life.
Students ponder the meaning of Jinamoom by Peggy Griffiths at the Ian Potter Museum of Art. Jodie Hutchinson/Ian Potter Museum

Friday essay: can looking at art make for better doctors?

Can empathy be taught to students in the healthcare professions? A groundbreaking project is using visual art to ensure they pay attention to the whole person, not just the disease.
A little girl in Sudan gets treated by physiotherapist Fatima Mohamed. Reuters/UNAMID/Albert Gonzalez Farran/Handout

Physiotherapy students have much to learn from the humanities

Many medical disciplines have started encouraging their students to embrace lessons from the arts and humanities. Physiotherapy is lagging behind.
A newborn baby undergoes music therapy at a hospital in Slovakia. The hospital uses music therapy to treat infants who have been separated from their mothers. Petr Josek Snr/Reuters

Healthy songs: the amazing power of music therapy

From serving newborns to treating hospice patients, music can be used in medical and psychological treatment with surprising – and real – results.
Helen Macdonald, winner of the 2014 Costa Book of the Year. Marzena Pogorzaly

Why popular culture is mad for medical fiction

Whatever your opinion of book prizes, they remain a useful tool for understanding what is popular in the literary world. The Costa Book of the Year, awarded this year to Helen Macdonald for her book H…

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