Foundations of Health Humanities 1 Credits/Maximum of 1

Catalog description

As the introductory course in the Humanities Phase 1 sequence, we will devote class time considering issues of pressing social interest, including structural inequities like racism and discrimination in medicine, justice, and unconscious bias. The course also introduces primary skills in narrative medicine, clinical ethics, and anthropology, all of which promote clinical practices that are inclusive, culturally sensitive, and self-aware. A primary conceptual framework that guides the course is the social construction of reality. Our worlds are both biologically and socially constructed. Biological construction addresses how our bodies work as organisms, why we are healthy or sick, and how to treat illness so that we can become well. Social construction addresses the social worlds, values, stories and structures that we create to sustain ourselves as individuals, families, and communities. The social construction framework explains the way our minds perceive reality and shape it. If we understand how our realities are constructed, we can find ways to change those realities that are harmful-either by creating biochemical treatments to fight disease or to identify and then alter behaviors that lead to discriminatory practices. Many disciplinary approaches in the social sciences and humanities illuminate the social construction of reality. This course provides students with conceptual frameworks to refer to during their entire medical school experience.