medical humanities research paper topics

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Medical humanities articles from across Nature Portfolio

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Truth, humane treatment, and identity: perspectives on the legitimacy of the public and private health sectors during Covid in Zambia

• Dell D. Saulnier
• Christabel Saidi
• Felix Masiye

Shaping the future of AI in healthcare through ethics and governance

• Rabaï Bouderhem

Understanding the experience of family caregivers of patients with leukemia: a qualitative analysis of online blogs

• Mengying Qiu

Speaking up on attending ward rounds: a qualitative study of internal medicine residents

• Justin J. Choi
• Nada Mhaimeed
• Martin F. Shapiro

“Terrestrial Verses” on the borderline: an interdisciplinary decolonial reading of Forugh Farrokhzad and Frida Kahlo

• Seyedeh Zahra Moosavi

Is it useful to understand disease through Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology?

• Woosok Choi

News and Comment

The ethics of suicide research online: a consensual protocol for crowdsourcing-based studies on suicide.

Suicide, one of the top causes of life lost in developed countries, is a major health problem, especially today, with the dramatic increase in mental health difficulties that was triggered during the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Opportunely, the recent emergence of internet-based crowdsourcing platforms (e.g., Amazon’s Mechanical Turk) may accelerate research on suicide prevention, however, this type of suicide research online involves a difficult ethical challenge: how to keep participants’ safe without compromising their privacy. To address this ethical challenge, a consortium of experts from multiple research institutions was assembled. The consortium discussed the advantages and disadvantages for participants involved in crowdsourcing-based studies that address suicide risk. This discussion resulted in a consensual step-by-step protocol for researchers who wish to conduct suicide research online, using the crowdsourcing platforms. This article provides a detailed description of the protocol and outlines key ethical arguments that led to its formulation. Unresolved issues are discussed as well and other researchers are encouraged to implement the proposed protocol and suggest further improvements. It is our hope that the current protocol will facilitate the research on large and diverse populations online and thus contribute to the global efforts to reduce suicide rates around the world.

• Yaakov Ophir
• Yair Amichai Hamburger
• Gil Zalsman

Care robots for the common good: ethics as politics

The development of care robots has been accompanied by a number of technical and social challenges, which are guided by the question: “What is a robot for?” Debates guided by this question have discussed the functionalities and tasks that can be delegated to a machine that does not harm human dignity. However, we argue that these ethical debates do not offer any alternatives for designing care robots for the common good. In particular, we stress the need to shift the current ethical discussion on care robots towards a reflection on the politics of robotics, understanding politics as the search for the common good. To develop this proposal, we use the theoretical perspective of science and technology studies, which we integrate into the analysis of disagreement inspired by a consensus-dissensus way of thinking, based on discussing and rethinking the relationships of care robots with the common good and the subjects of such good. Thus, the politics of care robots allows for the emergence of a set of discussions on how human-machine configurations are designed and practiced, as well as the role of the market of technological innovation in the organisation of care.

• Núria Vallès-Peris
• Miquel Domènech

Makeshift medicine is a response to US health system failures

The ‘makeshift medicine’ framework describes how individuals address healthcare needs when they are unable to access the US healthcare system. The framework is applied to gender-affirming care, the health of people who inject drugs and abortion access. Recommendations for future research, advocacy and policy are made.

• Patrick J. A. Kelly
• Katie B. Biello
• Jaclyn M. W. Hughto

Medical artificial intelligence is as much social as it is technological

Despite the promise of medical artificial intelligence applications, their acceptance in real-world clinical settings is low, with lack of transparency and trust being barriers that need to be overcome. We discuss the importance of the collaborative process in medical artificial intelligence, whereby experts from various fields work together and tackle transparency issues and build trust over time.

• Annamaria Carusi
• Peter D. Winter

Prunus persica in science, literature and art

Contemporary food scientists may find inspiration, just as, over the centuries, various writers and painters have, in the delicious, multisensory complexity of a ripe peach.

• Charles Spence

Challenging medical knowledge translation: convergence and divergence of translation across epistemic and cultural boundaries

In this article, and the topical collection accompanying it, we aim to challenge so-called knowledge translation (hereinafter KT) in medicine and healthcare. The abbreviation ‘KT’ refers to a variety of scientific practices and research activities, bound together by the common goal of ‘bridging the gap’ between science in laboratories and clinical application, and, more generally, putting research-based knowledge into policy and practical care. Our objective, then, is to challenge KT by working through and with the convergence and divergences between different translational epistemologies. As KT has had a massive impact on practical healthcare, global health, and knowledge policy, as well as governance relating to sustainability, a critical examination of KT is of huge academic and societal significance. The point of departure for the contributors to this collection is the observation that KT is based upon a reductive understanding of translation and knowledge transmission. Standard models of KT take translation and knowledge transmission as a phenomenon for granted, and accordingly downplay the complexity of translation as an entangled material, textual and cultural process, which inevitably affects the ‘original scientific message’. By contrasting KT with historical, cultural, and epistemic differences from its scientific ‘prehistory’, and by analysing it with reference to broader humanistic and material views of translation, we aim to develop concepts of medical translation that can cope with contemporary epistemic and cultural differences.

• John Ødemark
• Eivind Engebretsen

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The Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities foundation area enables medical students to study a chosen area in depth as a complement to the breadth of knowledge and skills gained by general medical education. Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities is an opportunity for interested students to reflect on, analyze, and contribute to the meaning of medicine by focusing on one (or more!) of the diverse fields that contribute to bioethics and/or the arts and humanities as related to medicine. Resources and events related to medical humanities can be found by exploring the  Medicine and the Muse Program . Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities students will be able to examine the ethical and humanistic dimensions of research and practice, and focus on issues that they will confront whether at the laboratory bench or at the bedside. We define "Biomedical Ethics" as broadly encompassing the examination of the ethics of all biomedical research, medicine, and health care. We envision the "Humanities" to include the traditional humanities fields of literature, philosophy, history, religion, and the arts (visual, theatre, media), as well as humanities-oriented social sciences (including anthropology and sociology). Here are examples of topics within Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities: the impact of medical and technologic advances (such as genomics, stem cell research, etc); neuroethics; history of medicine; issues of health care access and public health policy; doctor-patient relationship and communication; end-of-life issues; medicine and the media; medicine and society; literature and medicine; medical anthropology; empathy and the experience of illness; the arts and medicine. There are many more. Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities is a richly interdisciplinary concentration. For example, a student who wishes to do a film on choices in the neonatal intensive care unit would study filmmaking and editing, communication, family interactions, neonatology, issues of limited resources, ethics of medical advances, informed consent issues, etc. Due to the medical school's ideal location on the same campus as the University, medical students in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities benefit from multiple opportunities for interdisciplinary work across the campus.

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Global Health Humanities, a June Special Issue

Podcast: Brandy speaks to Narin Hassan and Jessica Howell about the June Special Issue: Global Health Humanities

This timely special issue presents research in the emerging field of Global Health Humanities. Authors hail from different disciplinary backgrounds, including Medical Humanities, literary studies, film and visual media, the history of public health, rhetoric, women’s and gender studies, medicine, and physical therapy. Their work critically engages global health histories, medical intervention and education, as well as the representation in art and culture of illness and healing in a global context. While some articles focus on specific local cultural contexts, such as the Dominican Republic, Africa, America, India, Iran, or Canada, other authors take a comparative perspective, or reflect on Global Health Humanities scholarship and its developing methodologies and priorities. Authors also think through how specific embodied experiences, such as scarf injury, transplantation, fertility and childbirth, or long-COVID, reflect the political legacies of colonialism, sexism, racism, and other contributing factors tohealth disparities such as ableism and language elitism. The co-editors, Narin Hassan and Jessica Howell, also reflect on how Global Health Humanities scholarship can respond to current unfolding health crises through responsive and self-reflective praxis.

Narin Hassan is Associate Professor and Director of Global Media and Cultures (MS-GMC) in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. She is author of Diagnosing Empire: Women, Medical Knowledge, and Colonial Mobility (Ashgate, 2011). She has published essays on topics related to Victorian literature and culture, colonial/postcolonial studies, critical yoga studies, and medical humanities in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies, WSQ, Mosaic, Nineteenth-Century Contexts, Race and Yoga , and in a number of book collections. Her current research examines gendered conceptions of the mind, body, and spirituality in colonial contexts and within contemporary cultures of yoga. She serves as the President of INCS (Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies).

BRANDY SCHILLACE: Hello and welcome back to the Medical Humanities Podcast . This is Brandy Schillace, Editor-in-Chief. And today I have with me Jessica Howell, who’s a Professor at Texas A&M, and also Narin Hassan, who is Associate Director of the graduate program in Global Media and Cultures at Georgia Tech. They have some very exciting things to tell us about Global Health Humanities, which is a special issue going to be appearing with us in June. And I also know that Jessica is head of a program from which this kind of developed. So, welcome, both of you, and maybe you can tell us all a bit more about yourselves.

HOWELL: Thank you Brandy My name is Jessica Howell. I’m Professor of English at Texas A&M University, and I’m also Associate Director for the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research where I run an initiative in Global Health Humanities. And this is essentially where the interest for this special issue grew. I’ve been a Health Humanities scholar and teacher, as well as teaching in English literature for a good bit of time. And I was noticing that there was an emerging research interest in global health in the Humanities, and I was so lucky to be joined by Narin Hassan, Narin Hassan as my Co-Editor. Narin, did you want to  introduce yourself?

NARIN HASSAN: Yes, thank you. I am Narin Hassan. I am an Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. And as Brandy mentioned, I’m also a Director of a new graduate program that’s a collaborative program between my department, which is Literature, Media, Communication and the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. And it’s a collaborative program called Global Media and Cultures. And my work is largely looking at the 19th century and intersections of gender, health, and colonialism in the 19th century. And I was lucky as a graduate student to actually be a graduate student at the University of Rochester, which had a Medical Humanities program, one of the early programs at their medical school. So, as a graduate student, I taught a number of courses in that Medical Humanities program and then continued to do some research in that area.

SCHILLACE: Yeah, and that’s exciting. Actually, I know a bit about the Rochester program, and that’s kind of exciting too. I think one of the things that interests me about what our project here at Medical Humanities , we define it quite broadly. And I know that in some areas, right, people think of Medical Humanities as coming, as really being about literature in medicine, which it sometimes is, or narrative medicine, which it sometimes is, but it’s much broader than that. And so, here at Medical Humanities , we have people from anthropology, history, literature, the medical sciences, social science, social justice all coming together. And so, that’s one of the reasons why I found your proposal for a Global Health Humanities special issue so intriguing is that it does have a broad base. So, I wondered if you could say a bit more. I know that kind of came out of some of the work you were both already doing. How did you bring it together, and what can people expect from this special issue when it hits this June?

HOWELL: Sure. Well, we essentially met through our common networks in 19th Century Studies. I also study literature of empire, health, and the environment. And so, Narin and I knew each other through those networks, and it was through Narin’s previous work and her interest in Health Humanities that we decided to form this collaboration. If we can define the Health Humanities as understanding cultural practices and products related to health and illness, this special issue is really poised to embrace a global turn to understanding these kinds of practices in a global context. So, we do think of it really broadly in terms of different forms of human expression, which of course, very much include literature and literary forms, but also film and visual media, the history of specific terms and concepts related to global health as well as Global Health Humanities as a field itself, and how it articulates itself in relationship to Health Humanities and in relationship to the history of the Medical Humanities as a field. So, there’s also a kind of self-reflective quality to some of the articles that are appearing in this special issue to think about how is Global Health Humanities differing from Health Humanities? How is it innovating? And then also, what are its relevant kind of scholarly backgrounds and traditions that inform the practice?

SCHILLACE: Mmhmm. Mmhmm.

HASSAN: I’ll just add that when Jessica contacted me, it was a sort of follow-up to a conference that we were both at, the Interdisciplinary 19th Century Studies Conference. So, it was back in 2019. And at that conference, I had organized a roundtable on teaching race and empire in the 19th century that Jessica attended. And she kind of followed up after the conference. And so, I just wanted to add that both of us are sort of coming from backgrounds that are historical and also literary and cultural, but we also see in our issue and think it’s really important to represent scholars from a variety of fields. So,  Jessica has mentioned the various fields that are represented, but also, scholars who are doing different kinds of work. So, there’s pieces that are sort of looking, that are like teams working on particular topics. There are single-authored pieces. There’s scholars coming from different methodological places and backgrounds, but also scholars coming from a variety of different stages of their careers.

SCHILLACE: Right.

HASSAN: So, that was something we were really trying to do with the issue is, I think our goal was to take the broad approach in as many ways as possible and to sort of think about expanding the field and expanding the ways in which we think about the terms “global” and “health” and “humanities.”

HOWELL: Right.

SCHILLACE: Yeah, I appreciate that because, here at MH , one of the things that we’ve been working hard on and we just launched this year, officially launched, we’ve been practicing working on it already, is path to publication, which is an attempt to broaden out who can submit, effectively, a special issue. Because it is a lot of hard work as you can both attest to.

SCHILLACE: Getting published if you are from, say, the Global South and you don’t have the access to opening or even reading some of the essays that we have, if they’re behind paywalls, or you’re not being asked to be part of those conversations, yet you’re spoken about, but not necessarily heard from. And so, we’ve been trying to expose, there’s a lot about publishing that is unfortunately exclusionary, and we’re trying to make it more inclusive. And one of the ways of doing that is creating special issues that allow people time and gestation and a community to surround that, to help all of the articles be stronger. And so, I think you guys experienced that as well. I wanna say it was almost, what, almost two years that you worked on this prior to publication?

HOWELL: Yeah, the inception of it was even before then. And I should say before we turn to thinking about how it has tracked, a very, a time of global upheaval and a time when global health has become of even more urgent interest in conversation, I just wanted to mention that though we have this diversity in terms of both the professional development of our different authors as well as the areas that they discuss. So, we have articles that are about the Dominican Republic, Africa, America, India, Iran, Canada, and the Mediterranean, and we have scholars that are in universities not based in America, for example, in the UK. So, there’s that kind of representation of diversity.

But there’s also, I would say, a kind of cross-cutting aspect which we explore in our introduction that many of the articles, that they come from different disciplinary and methodological backgrounds. Many of them engage cross-cutting topics like health inequity, access to care in a global context, gendered health disparities, the legacies of colonialism in terms of kind of neocolonial health infrastructure, and then also human health and displacement and the refugee experience, as well as the emerging, current, and very urgent topic of COVID-19 and the Health Humanities. And so, there are these cross-cutting, I would say, inquiries and interests that are really what we would call outlining the key considerations of Global Health Humanities as an emerging field. But then before we, I wanted to turn over to Narin to talk about how it’s been a long-standing project, but also one that’s been evolving in real time.

SCHILLACE: Mmhmm.

HASSAN: Yeah. I tried to go back and kind of look at the timeline be cause   it all seems so far away now! But it was back in, I guess, March 2019 that Jessica and I were both at the same conference, and she contacted me soon after. And it was around May 2019 that we started to think about the call and started to get some of that out there. So, it was right around the beginning of 2020 that we actually received the initial drafts. And then, of course, a lot of things changed as we hit spring 2020, which was a year in the project. And Jessica and I kept sort of feeling like the longer we were in the pandemic moment, we had to keep sort of rethinking and resituating the project itself and the kinds of questions we were trying to pose. So, we went through a very long process of sort of digging through different layers of, okay, where are we going with this? How can we look at the global and the local in this moment? How could we think about the different clusters and sections that we have? How are they changing? So, when we initially thought about the project, issues of migration and the refugee question, there was sort of a core section that was focused on that. And then we realized we really needed to address the pandemic.

And so, we went through a lot of different processes of, how do we add sections to this? How do we reframe what we actually have? And along the way, I mean, another thing that sort of went on over the course of the last three years is we were also addressing our own experience of isolation, all of the sort of disruptions of 2020. We were dealing with a lot of that from our contributors. We really had to change the way that we were working and thinking. We were dealing with our own sort of stress around aging parents, health issues. So, there were a lot of ways that this sort of personal kind of just jumped in and that the moment really impacted where the project was going. And it really has felt like a whole sort of process of layering is the word that keeps coming to mind, building and then reshaping that has happened in the last three years.

SCHILLACE: It’s really interesting. I’ve been working with and talking to Stuart Murray, who’s also on the Board of Medical Humanities , Editorial Board of Medical Humanities . And they’re working on a project right now with the Wellcome, and we are trying to help track it in real time through podcasts to say like, because projects evolve. And so, it’s interesting. We’ve just done that, really, with you, and this project has evolved. Unfortunately, we didn’t document it the way we’re trying to do with Stuart Murray’s project. But I think that there’s a reality, there’s an illusion that these projects sort of arrive fully formed, then are sent to publishers, and then just suddenly arrive in publication and print, when in fact, there’s so much shaping that goes on from my end, as an editor, but also from the guest editors before the papers get to me, and then again through the revision processes, through the helpful comments of people who are readers and engage with the work. And that continues to go on because the blog is open for people to respond to the special issue after it publishes. So, I think, hopefully we are seeing the end of the imaginary sort of ivory tower, fully formed ideas springing from the forehead of Zeus, and it’s much more of a collaborative and communal process.

HOWELL: Yeah. And I think that in fact we, in the introduction as well as in, as you say, the process of revision with all of the contributors, we tried to make this self-reflective, evolving process of scholarship actually the topic. So, rather than trying to gloss it over, but instead, we realized that Health Humanities scholarship can really embrace that self-reflexivity of saying, “How do I think about autonomy differently? How do I think of vulnerability differently? How do I think of global interconnection differently?”

So, in fact, in one of the series of revisions, when we gave feedback to the authors, if their essays were not about COVID-19 explicitly, but they mentioned the pandemic as an emerging context to their work, we asked them to actually kind of deepen that inquiry and say, “What is my positionality in relationship to the pandemic? What do I bring to my consideration of this emerging crisis?” And so, and just as you say, in the introduction, we actually reflect back, Narin and I do, on the different changes that the issue has undergone. So, I think that one of the really promising potentialities within Health Humanities research is to—and COVID-19 has brought this into really stark relief—is to make the process of self-reflection and embodiment actually the topic of scholarship, not just the background.

SCHILLACE: Absolutely. I think it’s a process of showing your work, really. And that is something, if I may say, and I think your issue is emblematic of this, or at least representative of this, that that illusion, that sense of a fully formed project is also one that carries with it a lot of white, Western, and often masculine baggage. There used to be a kind of academic expectation that you didn’t show these things. They were considered weaknesses instead of diversity.

HOWELL: Mmhmm.

SCHILLACE: The diversity was considered a weakness instead of a strength. That there was a point at which you would never, bring your, oh, well, you’re ill. You don’t talk about that. Or you have sick parents. You don’t talk about that. And I am 100 percent against us laying that to rest because we are human beings. We are a community. Pretending that we don’t have these struggles is deeply injurious, especially to, I think, early career scholars who feel like they have to somehow fall in line or ape this kind of behavior. And so, it’s really powerful. And I, again, I think you’re right. I think COVID has driven this home even further for us to realize yeah, you know, we are wearing shorts under the table on that Zoom call. [chuckles] You know, we, like, it’s just, it’s just a thing. We’re living beings.

HOWELL: Mmhmm. Yeah, absolutely. And coping with loss and also acknowledging people’s relative positions of privilege when that exists, right? That our stressors are different than the stressors that some of our colleagues across the globe are dealing with. So, all of that opportunity and responsibility really, I think, is brought to light by the topic of global health and the Humanities.

HASSAN: Yeah, I’ll just add that I feel like that is what has made the project sort of deeper and in terms of just sort of thinking about process. This was an amazing collaborative experience for me because Jessica and I don’t know each other that well, like just from seeing each other at conferences, and had never collaborated before. But once we were in 2020 and sort of going through the bulk of this project in the last two years, we did so much through Zoom, and we became so good at that, right?!

HOWELL: [laughs]

HASSAN: And our meetings became a really great space of connection, but also, we did a lot of writing while on Zoom. So, the process itself was unfolding during the pandemic, and we were able to use Google Docs and Zoom and all of these other forums to continue with the project. But those spaces also became spaces for us to be more open with each other about who we are as human beings, how we are caregivers, how we are giving in many different ways, and how the stresses of the moment are really bringing that to the core. So, as much as this is clearly, you know, it’s an academic project, we’re working with a group of scholars, there’s a lot that’s sort of around all that that we were trying to also address, right, to really think about who we are in this moment, working in this way, and trying to bring some of these questions to the world in a different way.

SCHILLACE: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I was wondering, since we have just this space to entice people to come and read the essays involved, what are some things that you hope people will be excited to see? What are some topics that you want to encourage? This is kind of our sales pitch as well. This is a great special issue. What should people come for, and what should they stay for?

HOWELL: Well, we can maybe take turns. Narin, I can talk about, there’s several different clusters, and so, we can talk about the highlights from each. And I’ll just start off by saying that the first cluster we have of essays is titled Nation, Biopolitics, and Narrative and thinks about the biopolitical links between global health and colonial history, specifically by focusing on reading literary text and film. So, we have an opening essay by Sandhya Shetty thinking about Katherine Mayo’s Mother India in terms of global health and security. And she does a really careful close reading of that novel, in particular thinking about Indian bodies and spaces. And then we have, continuing with the focus on India and representation, we have Meenakshi Srihari’s essay, which thinks about narrative arcs of organ transplantation within literature and film. So, we start out by thinking about how, as Narin mentioned before, you can bridge kind of local and global considerations by thinking about a particular representation of a particular place, which is India, in terms of both written and visual texts. The final essay in the first cluster is by Matthew Spencer and Lava Asaad, which weaves issues of migration and representation by thinking about a doctor’s experience in literature, working with refugees, and narrating that experience through memoir. And then maybe Narin, do you want to talk about women’s health?

HASSAN: Okay, great. So, yeah, our second section is on women’s health in global context. And in that section, we have an essay by Anna Kemball, which looks at American Indian birth experiences and speculative fiction. And then we have a piece by Anna Tupetz and a whole team of researchers who are working on looking at female scarf injuries in Bangladesh. And so, those two pieces are taking really different approaches. One is more of sort of Gender Studies, Literary Studies scholarship. The other one is a little bit more anthropological and is sort of a more practice-based sort of project. And then do you wanna go on to the next one, Jessica, which is more on global concepts and history and politics?

HOWELL: Sure. So, as I mentioned in the introductory conversation, we wanted to make sure to have a section that was dedicated to where some of the key terms and concepts related to global health and the Humanities have come from, what are their legacies. And so, we have an article by Mari Webel on the history of the concept of neglected tropical diseases. So, she thinks about how, within a historical framework, this term of “neglected tropical diseases” has arisen through history and how it relates to public health institution and discourse. Brenda Wilson further then thinks about how in Kenya, again, in a more applied setting in this case, how language elitism affects maternal health outcomes in Kenya. And then finally, Raquel Baldwinson thinks about what our responsibilities are as Health Humanities scholars when we engage with the field of global health and what kinds of critical tendencies she sees arising in the global health communities, and how those need to kind of remain nuanced in understanding the real lived challenges that people are facing around the globe in terms of their health crises. And so, this section really focuses on zooming out, if you will, to think a bit about where we are and where we’ve come from in terms of key terms and concepts around global health.

SCHILLACE: Nice.

HASSAN: Yeah. I’ll just end with the last section is called COVID-19 and the Future of Health Humanities . And those questions of sort of nuance and zooming out sort of continue in this section. This is a section that we added later on in 2020. And there are two pieces in this section, and both of them are really getting us to think about COVID-19 and how the questions of this moment sort of ask us to think ahead or to rethink the ways that we’ve thought about terms and thought about Health Humanities. So, the first piece is by Rosemary Jolly, and that essay is looking at contact zones and political and environmental histories in relation to global health. And the last essay is by Jessica, Jessica Howell. And that piece is looking at literary and historical contexts as a way to think about contemporary health futures. So, we end the collection with that piece as a sort of looking back, but also looking forward and sort of thinking about the broader theoretical questions that are at stake and the different ways that we can think about the terms that we’ve been addressing throughout the collection.

SCHILLACE: That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful.

HOWELL: Yeah, and one of the methodologies, I think, that this final section offers is thinking about how something like oral history or interviewing can become part of Health Humanities scholarship, where, well, it already is, but how it can grow in real time to think about people’s lived experiences during a time like the pandemic. So, what could we do in terms of creating interviews and texts out of people’s lived experiences and then incorporating those into Health Humanities scholarship?

SCHILLACE: No, I think they’re all really wonderful pieces, and I think we’ve been very lucky to get them in and get them through. It’s particularly that you sort of had to add on. I mean, you guys met in the halcyon days before COVID-19, and yet you managed through the course of this process to get those topics in as well. And I think that is something that we do try to build in at MH by having these longer gestation periods for special issues, is the opportunity to address real-time issues that are happening unexpectedly in the middle of everything else. And I think that that’s a strength. That’s a real strength of the issue.

I am so glad both of you could join me today, and I really want everyone to check out the upcoming special issue. Also, our blog, which is very robust and is treated almost like its own online publication in some ways is carrying lay descriptions provided by the authors for the pieces that appear. And so, it also helps broaden the conversation out to non-specialist audiences. So, and that’s not behind a paywall. So, please do join us for this wonderful special issue on Global Health Humanities. And also check out the work of our guests today. Is there anything you want to leave us with?

HOWELL: Oh, I think  that this issue is also an invitation for further collaboration between Humanities scholars and those who are health practitioners in a global context to think about how individuals’ stories and experiences can be incorporated into our understanding and practice of global health.

SCHILLACE: Well, thank you again. Thank you both, and thanks to all of our listeners for being part of the conversation.

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Patients Are Humans Too: The Emergence of Medical Humanities

Keith Wailoo , a Fellow of the American Academy since 2021, is the Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette (2021), Pain: A Political History (2015), and How Cancer Crossed the Color Line (2011).

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Keith Wailoo; Patients Are Humans Too: The Emergence of Medical Humanities. Daedalus 2022; 151 (3): 194–205. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01938

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This essay describes the origins, growth, and transformation of the medical humanities over the past six decades, drawing on the insights of ethicists, physicians, historians, patients, activists, writers, and literature scholars who participated in building the field. The essay traces how the original idea of “humanizing physicians” evolved and how crises from death and dying, to AIDS and COVID-19, expanded humanistic inquiry into health, illness, and the human condition. It examines how a wide array of scholars, professional organizations, disciplinary approaches, academic units, and intellectual agendas came to define the vibrant field. This remarkable growth offers a counterpoint to narratives of decline in the humanities. It is a story of growing relevance shaped by tragedy, of innovative programs in medical schools and on undergraduate campuses, and vital new configurations of ethics, literature, the arts, and history that breathed new life into the study of health and medicine.

Writing in 1982, philosopher Stephen Toulmin observed that the study of ethics (which traditionally meant formal, theoretical moral philosophy) had been reenergized and transformed by its engagement with medicine. In “How Medicine Saved the Life of Ethics,” Toulmin explained that the ethical dilemmas of recent medicine-from death and dying, to contraception, and abortion-had catalyzed a resurgence in the once-moribund field of philosophical inquiry. Two years later, physician Eric Cassell painted a broader portrait of how problems of disease and health had nurtured humanities fields beyond bioethics. Celebrating “the place of humanities in medicine,” he wrote that “the enormously increasing power of medicine to change individual lives … and to profoundly influence social policy had all provided rich fare for philosophical, historical, and literary examination, interpretation, and analysis.” 1

In an era when health care had become powerful but also ethically challenged, new trends in the humanistic analysis and critique of medicine flourished. For many scholars drawn to the field, medicine and the humanities were entangled in a perverse love-hate relationship in which literature, history, and philosophy promised to soften medicine's rough edges and revise its “present romance with technology.” 2 In a sense, the medical humanities sought to be a counterpoint to technological hubris; it sought also to encourage physicians to have a deeper personal understanding of the impact of new technologies, new powers, and new health care dilemmas on people's lives. In the writings of Toulmin and Cassell, the medical humanities and ethics harbored a redemptive, utilitarian idea: that broad learning could nurture the soul of the doctor at a time when medicine, enraptured by science, was losing touch with the patient.

This essay draws on the insights of the ethicists, physicians, historians, patients, activists, artists, writers, literature scholars, and others who participated in the building of the medical humanities over the past six decades. The process began as an effort to “humanize medicine,” but the agenda grew and transformed remarkably over the years. The story they tell unfolds in three stages: the period from the early 1960s to the 1980s, in which developments centered in medical schools; the years of professional expansion in the 1980s and 1990s when new journals, associations, and teaching initiatives took shape; and the particularly stunning growth of medical humanities in undergraduate colleges in the 2000s, in programs taking varied institutional forms. In what follows, I allow those who participated in this transformation to describe the diversification of work done under the heading of “medical humanities.” This essay also traces how the original ideal of humanizing physicians evolved, while other goals such as exploring the human condition became more salient and as recurring crises in medicine and society catalyzed the fragmentation of the field.

The criticism articulated by Cassell and Toulmin-that medicine, in turning to science, was losing touch with patients-had been evident since the late 1950s. Increasing medical specialization was said to push doctors toward a study of disease mechanisms, and away from an understanding of illness. There was also, for example, the problem of unethical human experimentation in the post-World War ii era: the revelation that leading researchers conducted experiments such as testing drugs on vulnerable patients without their consent. Such excesses spanned from the testing of polio vaccines on children in mental institutions in the 1950s to the revelation in the 1970s about the decades-long Tuskegee syphilis study, in which Black men with the disease were observed rather than treated over four decades. The disclosures suggested a need for new regulations of professional conduct. But they also suggested a need for deeper introspection about virtue and the duties of caregiving.

As Cassell explained in the early 1980s, the events of the previous two decades had catalyzed medical humanities: for “while medical science can abstract itself and deal solely with body parts, doctors who take care of patients do not have that luxury-they must work with people … [and are faced with] the fears, desires, concerns, expectations, hopes, fantasies, and meaning that patients bring.” In this telling, the scientific guidance of physicians would always be morally impoverished without a fuller understanding of illness, suffering, and health, realities “better taught by literature and the other humanities.” 3

Both Toulmin and Cassell dated the birth of this humanistic critique to the early 1960s, when social movements and professional criticism produced curricular change. Over the decade, increasing numbers of women and students from minority backgrounds entered medical schools. The pressure for medical humanities programs was “initiated primarily by students,” explained Cassell. Rejecting the narrowness and perceived irrelevance of scientific medical training, they “were no longer content to be taught what their faculties believe important. It was essential to the students that their classes be ‘relevant’ to the problems of poverty, racial bias, and political ‘oppression.’“ 4

With health and health care in flux, the turmoil of the era made medical humanities necessary for addressing concerns of the moment. The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and their social integration provoked new questions about the meaning of illness, stigma, and the role of psychiatry in society: was it the case, as critics charged, that institutionalization was merely a scientized form of social control? 5 New legislation expanded health insurance to the elderly. But why then did the American Medical Association fight so feverishly against passage of Medicare, failing to stop it? Was this an example of the profession's commitment to economic interest and not, as they claimed, the well-being of patients? And when medical science failed in its quest to preserve life, what was the role of the physician in death and dying? 6 The subtitle of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's On Death and Dying captured the era's conceptual inversions, and its shift to more patient-centered understandings: “What the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy, and their own families.” Worries over the failures of “the biomedical model” ranged widely, gaining even greater force in early 1970s amid burgeoning political, legal, social, and moral debates over reproductive rights, abortion, and homosexuality. Trust in medical expertise was ebbing as core institutions were buffeted by social pressures. In the early 1970s, for example, the American Psychiatric Association gathered to debate removing “homosexuality” from its standard nomenclature of mental illnesses. Little wonder that medical ethics and humanistic understandings of patients, disease, health, and society expanded in significance in this tumultuous era.

The intense demands of the era made medical practice no longer “a field for academic, theoretical, even mandarin investigation alone…. It had to be debated in practical, concrete, even political terms,” explained Toulmin. 7 From the standpoint of the 1980s, Toulmin and Cassell saw medical humanities as a response to the “demand for intelligent discussion of the ethical problems of medical practice and research.” 8 By the early 1980s, the majority of medical schools had developed programs in the medical humanities, incorporating (in one way or another) the study of literature, history, and ethics into the training of physicians to be at least conversant with the issues swirling about the profession. Some schools had developed full-fledged departments. 9 But what neither the philosopher Toulmin nor the physician Cassell could see from the early 1980s was just how rich, diverse, and varied the field would become in the following decades.

As Toulmin and Cassell were penning their thoughts in the early 1980s, medical humanities were also taking shape in undergraduate curricula. Between 1980 and 2000, the critical humanistic analysis of medicine and health produced new scholarship in every field: in the arts, the social sciences, and in literature, history, and philosophy. New crossdisciplinary departments were devoted to the social relations of medicine and science. One such program, the one in which I earned a PhD, had been created in 1962 as the “History and Philosophy of Science,” and then changed its name to “History and Sociology of Science” in 1970. The varied names suggest the multiplicity of lenses being brought to bear on the undergraduate and graduate study of science, health, and their implications for society.

In the 1980s, medical humanities shifted focus notably toward the patient's experience and the human condition. aids , cancer, and other health struggles provided tragic catalysts for new works in literature, art, and history. The global aids pandemic, for example, raised a host of new questions not only about viral origins and epidemiology, but also about condoms, sex practices, religious tolerance, gay identity, and changing sexual politics, topics demanding integrated thinking about the human condition across the sciences, public health, social sciences, and humanities.

Where might one seek insight into this new health crisis? Was it perhaps Larry Kramer's 1985 autobiographical play, The Normal Heart , about enduring the early years of aids prejudice, indifference, struggle, and fear in New York City? Or perhaps the reflections of physician Abraham Verghese in My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS ? 10 Reviewing Verghese's book in Literature and Medicine , Joseph Cady explained that aids literature had become vast and had been produced mostly by people vulnerable to the disease. Verghese's contribution was different, telling his story as a foreign medical graduate in small town Tennessee chronicling the social trauma: the “hiv -positive heterosexual woman … infected by her bisexual husband, hemophiliacs with aids … and people with transfusion aids (Will and Bess Johnson, who posed an extra level of challenge as well-to-do, ‘pillar of the community,’ fundamentalist Christians who insist on keeping their infection secret).” 11 The nation's aids experience made clear that to fully understand the unfolding health tragedy demanded creative storytelling, narrative insight, introspection, and deep sensitivity to the complexity of the human condition. Kramer and Verghese were only two among many medical humanities ideals.

In medical education, new texts were pushing the field forward; new lines of inquiry and pedagogy were opening. When I taught in the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1990s (in the department of social medicine), humanizing the physician remained the central driving conceit. The redemptive ideal generated a new textbook in 1997, the Social Medicine Reader , a collection of fiction, essays, poetry, case studies, medical reports, and personal narratives by patients and doctors compiled for teaching. The Reader aimed to “contribute to an understanding of how medicine and medical practice is profoundly influenced by social, cultural, political, and economic forces.” Elsewhere, physician Rita Charon and literary scholar/ethicist Martha Montello were also compiling essays for an edited collection for a new enterprise labeled “narrative medicine.” As they observed, storytelling underpinned all thoughtful caregiving: “How the patient tells of illness, how the doctor or ethicist represents it in words, who listens as the intern presents at rounds, what the audience is being moved to feel or think-all these narrative dimensions of health care are of profound and defining importance in ethics and patient care.” 12 Such developments transformed medical education in the 1990s. “By 2004,” wrote medical historian Emily Abel and sociologist Saskia Subramanian, “88 of the 125 medical schools surveyed by the American Association of Medical Colleges offered classes in the human dimensions of care, including treating patients as whole people, respecting their cultural values, and responding empathetically to their pain and suffering.” However, these courses were only “a tiny fraction of medical-school curricula.” 13

Driven by such initiatives, the 1980s and 1990s would be an era of acquisitions, new ventures, and mergers in the medical humanities: new journals established, professional associations combined, and novel academic collaborations explored. In 1980, for example, the Journal of Medical Humanities was founded, followed two years later by Literature and Medicine . In 1998, three organizations - each representing different facets of the emerging field-merged to produce the American Society of Bioethics and the Humanities ( asbh ). The oldest of the three, dating to 1969, was the Society for Health and Human Values ( shhv ). The Society for Bioethics Consultation had been founded in the mid-1980s, while the American Association for Bioethics had been established only four years before, in 1994. As the asbh 's founding president, bioethicist Loretta Kopelman, reflected, the term “humanities” was a reassuring rubric particularly for the non-ethicists, a group that encompasses a vast array of disciplines and specialties:

shhv had members from many fields including health professionals, law, religious studies, literature, pastoral care, social science, history, visual arts and student groups. Some worried that this diversity of approaches would not be valued in the same way in a new organization. For many of those fearing such marginalization, “humanities” came to stand for inclusiveness and “bioethics” for the sort of rigor in addressing problems such as are found in publications in philosophy, law, social science or academic medicine. The title “American Society of Bioethics and Humanities” reflected that we wanted all groups to thrive in asbh . 14

Many of these new ventures proved to be durable, creating the institutional supports, professional associations, journals, texts, and teaching practices necessary to sustain the field. Others, such as the Society for the Arts in Healthcare founded in 1991, were short-lived and difficult to sustain.

By 2000, divergences in the medical humanities agenda appeared, inevitably so. In medical schools, the humanities presence remained small and there would be unavoidable tensions as humanists worked within the overwhelming science-based curriculum. Reflecting on the challenge of balancing history, theory, and practice in medical education, bioethicist Thomas McElhinney observed that

the changes in medicine caused by scientific discovery and technological developments, on the one hand, and social and political transformations, on the other, increasingly highlighted the impossibility of a complete medical education structured only on theory and practice (i.e., basic science and clinical training). 15

Faced with the demands of science and clinical education, students’ responses to the little humanities they encountered varied, said McElhinney: “the humanities will be a distraction to some but an oasis in an otherwise arid environment for others.” 16 The serious and profound need for humanistic insight remained obvious even if curriculum space was limited. By contrast, however, undergraduate college education in the 2000s provided fertile soil for program building and expansive institutional development.

Since 2000, “health humanities” in undergraduate education has expanded as a vibrant complement to the “medical humanities” in medical schools, a development that moved the field significantly beyond its narrow ideals of humanizing physicians. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of undergraduate baccalaureate programs in the health humanities jumped from eight to over forty, followed by another stunning increase in the next decade. By 2021, the number of such programs had reached 119, an eightfold increase since 2000 as one recent survey by humanities and bioethics scholars Erin Gentry Lamb, Sarah Berry, and Therese Jones observed. At the same time that a crisis in the humanities brewed, the once niche field was flourishing. As Lamb, Berry, and Jones noted, “at a time when Liberal Arts education, and humanities programs in particular, are under fire in many public quarters,” health humanities programs were serving a growing, keenly interested population of students (many of whom hoped to enter health care careers).

The utilitarian impulse to produce better caregivers persisted, but the locus of humanistic health education was shifting to undergraduate curricula. And in this context, the critical sensibilities of the medical humanities sharpened. Colleges across the nation discovered that these years were “an ideal time for students to develop skills valuable … to providing humanistic health care across a wide range of health care fields.” Reaching younger students prior to entering health careers cultivated “habits of mind that prepare students for critical and creative thinking, identification of internal biases, and ethical reasoning in decision-making processes - all of which are critical skills for participating in the complex system of U.S. healthcare.” 17 The model gained traction, drawing together students from across disciplines and a range of health-oriented humanities scholars in new teaching and research initiatives.

Commenting on the diverse expansion of such programs in 2009, historian Edward Ayers observed that “we need to understand the many contexts in which the humanities live. They live in departments and disciplines, of course; but they also live in new places, in new forms, and in new combinations.” 18 Medical humanities was one such novel combination. Drawing on cultural studies, women's studies, disability studies, and other burgeoning fields, programs of medical humanities defined a “rapidly growing field, celebrating the ability of the humanities, as one program put it, to provide ‘insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood, our responsibility to each other.’“ 19 Medical humanities became, for many commenters like Ayers, a leading example of the thriving humanities, a vibrant counterpoint to widespread narratives of decline.

That same year in an astute editorial in Medical Humanities , physician Audrey Shafer acknowledged the diverse field was showing new academic fracture lines. Not only did institutional and pedagogical goals differ, but gaps had opened between medical humanists who worked directly with patients or in health care settings and those who worked in other educational contexts. Collaborations suffered because “for instance, a performing arts department will have different theoretical underpinnings, methodologies, scholarly activities and products from a philosophy department.” 20 Medical humanities was an intellectual hodge-podge, in Shafer's view, suffering from an identity crisis. Yet despite tensions among scholars with different qualifications, degrees, and agendas, the enterprise remained vibrant with new “demarcations, dilemmas, and delights.” For Shafer, the struggle to hold the field together was itself productive, for “when medical humanities ceases to struggle with what it encompasses … then it will cease to be medical humanities.” 21

Many program builders in undergraduate settings did not share Shafer's worry about the field's “identity and boundary bumping,” however. “Health humanities” and “medical humanities” proved to be popular, versatile, and decidedly flexible rubrics for program building in undergraduate contexts. Programs emerged under a growing array of headings: “History, Health, and Humanities,” “Health and Society,” and “Medicine, Science, and the Humanities.” 22 If some embraced narrative ethics and centered the study of literature while others foregrounded history or ethics, this diversity reflected the robust range of what medical humanities had become. The goal remained broad, cross-disciplinary education about the human condition, and deep introspection connecting scholars across fields who were drawn together in teaching and researching the challenges of health and healing.

The agenda of medical humanities had built over time, with no single discipline claiming exclusive ownership over the enterprise. Assessing the field, literature scholar Sari Altschuler pointed forward in the conclusion to her 2018 book, The Medical Imagination . In her view, the humanities agenda in medical schools had made modest gains, confining itself to a limited agenda by “mostly aiming at improving physician empathy rather than at shaping and expanding medicine's ways of knowing.” 23 Meanwhile, programs run by humanists in undergraduate settings remained too heavily focused on the utilitarian task of preparing aspiring health care workers. Both approaches sought “to bring a sense of the human back to medicine that risked being too governed by dispassionate science, routinized procedure, and market logic.” 24 These foundational functions of the humanities in medicine (its redemptive capacity for humanizing caregivers and seeing the humanity of patients) had not changed. If anything, they had expanded remarkably in reach and scope, finding new audiences, and developing in new venues.

With this expansion, scholars in a field that had begun modestly (in hopes of humanizing physicians and exploring the human condition) now confidently asserted that the very habits of analysis in humanistic inquiry exemplified, in themselves, important “ways of knowing” about health. To Altschuler, “the number and breadth of medical and health humanities programs offer a terrific opportunity” to move beyond empathy building in medicine, and to embrace a bolder vision: “the recognition that humanists have an important and distinct set of tools for knowing the world, as do health professionals.” 25 Building on the energetic developments of the past decades, she called on humanists to engage with medical science from a new standpoint-to find common ground with medical educators by embracing the language of “competencies”: practical skill development as the bedrock of medical training. By now, these skills could be clearly articulated as “humanistic competencies-which include narrative, attention, observation, historical perspective, ethics, judgement, performance, and creativity.” 26 The list offered a lovely shorthand for the approaches, methods, and practices encompassed within the health humanities. These competencies also highlighted the fraught challenge ahead; the building of medical humanities would involve ceaseless struggle over boundaries and demarcations, even as its core commitment remained restoring humanistic understanding to the vast biomedical and health enterprise.

In the end, the remarkable growth of the health humanities over the past six decades is a story of tragic relevance, driven by the awareness not that medicine had “saved the life of ethics” as Toulmin had noted, but rather by recognition that new configurations of ethics, literature, the arts, and history were vital for breathing life into medicine.

As the medical humanities have widened their reach, one theme has persisted from the early years: professional and human crisis has spawned the search for meaning and introspection about life, illness, recovery, human suffering, the care of the body and spirit, and death. Medicine's social dilemmas, its professional controversies, human health crises, social tensions over topics from aids to abortion and genetics, as well as the profession's very identity and its claim to authority have catalyzed and fed a growing demand for answers about meaning. The recurring crisis has generated a style of humanistic insight that has flourished not only within traditional disciplines but also in the interstices.

The flourishing of medical humanities is a story of shifting energies: the emergence of new lines of inquiry, new institutional homes, and novel journals and professional associations. As the field has grown, its questions about illness, disease, and the pursuit of health have become more prominent across the academy and beyond its boundaries. The work has adapted to new trends in health movements, disability studies and activism, and questions of race and gender in relation to health. Even as new programs have developed, the work of health humanities has become ever more salient in the disciplines of history, literature, the arts, and in philosophy and ethics.

This expanding humanist venture-spanning from undergraduate and graduate teaching and research to broad public engagements-refutes the narrative of a “humanities in decline.” Redemption and humanization of the practitioner remain goals, as does the deep appreciation of suffering, recovery, and the illness experience. But the past decades have seen a wider critique: an insistence that the tools of the medical humanities are not merely restorative gap-fillers for what is lacking in scientific and technological insight, but that their discernment about the self and identity, suffering and illness are the primary lenses for understanding essential features of human experience, health, and society. The medical humanities provide, then, the means by which we understand the complex problem of how humans respond to illness, and how humans assess the role of science and medicine in the enterprise of healing.

In the same way that the human tragedy of aids confirmed the relevance of medical humanities in the 1980s and 1990s, today's global coronavirus pandemic (and its underlying issues of disparate suffering, loss, blame, conflicted belief, social inequality, misinformation, and varied cultural responses) catalyzes yet another wave of interest in health humanities. And few of covid 's challenging questions revolve around doctoring or patients alone; in covid , the health and well-being of a contentious and fractured public raised vexing questions well suited for medical humanists.

As we weather recurring waves of covid , it has become commonplace for media to turn to medical humanities scholars for insight and guidance. What could literature or history teach us about the social responses to the current pandemic? asked National Public Radio. Could the history of past pandemics provide insight into the current crisis, or serve as guides for the building of effective social responses and healthier, more equitable societies? To answer such questions, public media has sought answers from scholars like French professor Alice Kaplan, who was busily writing a new introduction to Camus's The Plague . In early 2020 during the first wave of covid , sales of the book skyrocketed in Europe. “People are saying in the French press, what do you absolutely need to read in this time? You need to read The Plague,” Kaplan explained. “Almost as though this novel were a vaccine-not just a novel that can help us think about what we are experiencing, but something that can help heal us.” 27

The medical humanities began in crises and critiques of medicine, and crisis continued to make the health humanities vital, timely, and necessary. To be sure, the utilitarian ideals remained focused on creating well-rounded medical practitioners. But the field now encompasses a grander and more widely institutionalized, and still richly debated, promise of healing and restoration through literature, the arts, history, and ethics. 28 So while it is true that medicine “saved the life of ethics,” it is also the case that over these decades, the medical humanities has breathed new life into the humanities while also offering society a kind of healing that medicine itself cannot provide. This remarkable growth offers a counterpoint to narratives of decline in the humanities. It is a story of growing relevance shaped by tragedy, of innovative programs in medical schools and on undergraduate campuses, and vital new configurations of ethics, literature, the arts, and history that have profoundly rejuvenated the study of health and medicine.

Daniel Callahan, Arthur Caplan, and Bruce Jennings, “Preface” to Eric Cassell, The Place of the Humanities in Medicine (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.: The Hastings Center, 1984), 5.

Cassell, The Place of the Humanities in Medicine , 6.

Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct (New York: Harper Collins, 1961).

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy, and Their Own Families (New York: Scribner, 1969).

Stephen Toulmin, “How Medicine Saved the Life of Ethics,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 25 (4) (1982): 749.

Cassell listed the four as Pennsylvania State, Wright State, Southern Illinois, and University of Nebraska. Cassell, The Place of the Humanities in Medicine , 12.

Larry Kramer, The Normal Heart: A Play (New York: Plume, 1985); and Abraham Verghese, My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS (New York: Vintage, 1994).

Joseph Cady, “My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS (review),” Literature and Medicine 15 (2) (1996): 278–282.

Rita Charon and Martha Montello, “Memory and Anticipation: The Practice of Narrative Ethics,” in Stories Matter: The Role of Narrative in Medical Ethics , ed. Rita Charon and Martha Montello (New York: Routledge, 2002).

Emily K. Abel and Saskia K. Subramanian, After the Cure: The Untold Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors (New York: NYU Press, 2008), 141.

Loretta M. Kopelman, “1997: The Birth of ASBH in Pictures and Commentaries,” American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, https://asbh.org/uploads/FINAL_1997-The_Birth_of_ASBH.pdf .

Thomas K. McElhinney, “Reflections on the Humanities and Medical Education: Balancing History, Theory, and Practice,” in The Health Care Professional as Friend and Healer: Building on the Work of Edmund Pellgrino , ed. David C. Thomasma and Judith Lee Kissell (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000), 271.

Ibid., 289.

Erin Gentry Lamb, Sarah Berry, and Therese Jones, “Health Humanities Baccalaureate Programs in the United States and Canada” (Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University, 2021), 5, https://case.edu/medicine/bioethics/education/health-humanities .

Edward L. Ayers, “Where the Humanities Live,” Dædalus 138 (1) (Winter 2009): 24–34.

Audrey Shafer, “Medical Humanities: Demarcations, Dilemmas, and Delights,” Medical Humanities 35 (1) (2009): 3–4.

Lamb et al., “Health Humanities Baccalaureate Programs in the United States and Canada,” 10–12.

Sari Altschuler, “Humanistic Inquiry in Medicine, Then and Now,” in The Medical Imagination: Literature and Health in the Early United States (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), 198.

Ibid., 198.

Ibid., 199.

Ibid., 200.

Melissa Block, “‘A Matter of Common Decency’: What Literature Can Teach Us about Epidemics,” National Public Radio, April 1, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/04/01/822579660/a-matter-of-common-decency-what-literature-can-teach-us-about-epidemics ; and Audie Cornish, “How Do Pandemics Change Societies? A Historian Weighs In,” National Public Radio, March 11, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/03/11/976166829/how-do-pandemics-change-societies-a-historian-weighs-in .

E. D. Pellegrino, “Medical Humanism: The Liberal Arts and the Humanities,” Review of Allied Health Education 4 (1981): 1–15; and E. D. Pellegrino, “The Humanities in Medical Education: Entering the Post-Evangelical Era,” Theoretical Medicine 5 (1984): 253–266.

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• Open access
• Published: 01 September 2023

The medical humanities at United States medical schools: a mixed method analysis of publicly assessable information on 31 schools

• Joshua Anil 1 ,
• Phoebe Cunningham 1 ,
• C. Jessica Dine 1 ,
• Amanda Swain 1 &
• Horace M. DeLisser 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  23 , Article number:  620 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Introduction

There have been increasing efforts to integrate the arts and humanities into medical education, particularly during undergraduate medical education (UME). Previous studies, however, have focused on courses and curricular programming without rigorous characterization of the associated paracurricular environment or infrastructure enabling or facilitating these offerings.

To assess opportunities for students to engage the arts and humanities during their medical education as well as the institutional resources to support those opportunities, we developed the Humanities and Arts Programming Scale (HARPS): an 18-point scale involving eight sub-domains (Infrastructure, Curricular Opportunities, Extracurricular Engagement, Opportunities for Immersion, Faculty Engagement, Staff Support, Student Groups, and Scholarship). This scale was used to evaluate the top-31 ranked United States medical schools as determined by US News and World Report’s (USWNR) Medical School Research Rankings using information derived from public-facing, online information.

Mean cumulative HARPS score was 11.26, with a median score of 12, a standard deviation of 4.32 and a score range of 3–17. Neither USWNR ranking nor private/public institution status were associated with the cumulative score (p = 0.121, p = 0.739). 52% of institutions surveyed had a humanities-focused center/division with more than 70% of the schools having significant (> 5) faculty engaged in the medical humanities. 65% of schools offered 10 or more paracurricular medical humanities events annually, while 68% of the institutions had more than 5 medical humanities student organizations. While elective, non-credit courses are available, only 3 schools required instruction in the arts and humanities, and comprehensive immersive experiences in the medical humanities were present in only 29% of the schools.

Conclusions

Although there is a significant presence of the medical humanities in UME, there is a need for integration of the arts and humanities into required UME curricula and into immersive pathways for engaging the medical humanities.

Peer Review reports

Physicians are increasingly viewed less favorably by the public, [ 1 , 2 ] with perceived losses in physician empathy, compassion and caring cited often as factors contributing to a waning of the public’s trust and respect for physicians. In the context of this public dissatisfaction, physicians experience significant rates of professional dissatisfaction,[ 3 ] burnout,[ 4 , 5 ] depression,[ 5 , 6 ] and suicide [ 7 ]. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further hardened the distrust and suspicions many patients have of physicians [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] as well as exacerbated the professional and emotional challenges of physicians with potentially enduring negative effects [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. There is now a growing consensus, supported by emerging data, that the integration of the arts and humanities into the training and experiences of physicians will be an important element in addressing these troubling societal trends and professional challenges [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].

This integration of the arts and humanities into medical education to foster the development of physician competence and professionalism is encapsulated in the term, medical humanities [ 15 , 16 , 21 ]. It encompasses a variety of art forms including theater, literature, poetry, visual arts and performing arts, as well as disciplines in the humanities such as ethics, history, philosophy, literature and art criticism and theory. The ability of the medical humanities to (i) promote critical affective, cognitive, relational and communication skills, (ii) offer historical and structural contexts and frameworks, (iii) foster teamwork and collaboration, and (iv) enable opportunities for community and connection, provide compelling reasons for the integration of the arts and humanities into medical education [ 16 ].

Calls for humanistic practice in medicine date back to the first decades of the 20th century [ 17 ]. While not new, over the last several decades content and instruction related to the arts and humanities have been increasingly included in medical school curricula [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. However, in the past 10 years there have been accelerating efforts from several directions to more coherently, comprehensively and rigorously integrate disciplines, experiences and pedagogy from the arts and humanities into medical education, particularly during undergraduate medical education (UME) [ 15 , 16 , 20 ]. In the United States these efforts have most recently coalesced around the Fundamental Role of the Arts and Humanities in Medical Education (FRAHME) initiative of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) [ 16 ]. With a focus across the continuum of both training and practice, the goal of the FRAHME initiative is “to improve the education, practice, and well-being of physicians through deeper integrative experiences with the arts and humanities.” [ 16 ]

Recommendations from the FRAHME initiative include increased advocacy for the medical humanities, development of competency-based pedagogy, more rigorous evaluations of educational impact, new approaches using the arts and humanities to support learner and practitioner wellness, increased stakeholder collaborations, faculty development and training and enhanced medical education scholarship [ 16 ].

A necessary first step in implementing these recommendations, whether on an individual institutional level or as a part of national/collective initiatives is to define the current state of medical humanities offerings and programing as well as the educational environment and infrastructure for enabling and facilitating the engagement of physician learners with the arts and humanities. Such an inventory would be helpful in defining best practices and measures of excellence. In this regard, important work has been done in cataloguing the “ecology” of medical humanities in medical training [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. These studies, however, are limited in that they have focused on courses and curricular programming without rigorous characterization of the associated paracurricular environment or the infrastructure supporting these offerings that foster the learners’ experiences in the medical humanities. In this paper we describe the integration of the art and humanities across eight domains at 31 US medical schools, findings that have implications for expanding the presence of the medical humanities in physician training and experiences.

Data sources

To evaluate the presence of the medical humanities within UME, a systematic review of public-facing information from the top 30 medical schools from the 2022–2023 US News and World Report (USNWR) Best Medical School: Research list [ 27 ] was performed. A tie for rank 30 in the list resulted in the evaluation of 31 total schools. A complete listing of these schools can be found in Supporting Information, Appendix 1. All information used in this study was derived from public-facing, web-based sources accessible through a standard internet browser without a need for a password or other credentials, from a “.edu” site associated with an institution, or a link from such a site. Non-Internet sources of information were not used. The review was primarily restricted to the medical schools of individual institutions; however, pertinent information from outside departments or schools within an institution were considered on a case-by-case basis, if they provided documented services or opportunities to medical students. There was no direct or indirect human participation in our study.

Data extraction

Medical humanities were broadly defined as any discipline outside of the traditional physical sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science and statistics) including, history, literature and writing, art, music, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and integrative disciplines such as social medicine and narrative medicine. Ethics offerings were collected for completeness but were not included in the analyses of this study due to their already extensive inclusion into medical school. Two authors (JA, PC) independently reviewed each of the 31 schools and created individual reports that were not accessed by the alternate investigator. With specific attention to UME, and availability and accessibility to medical students, information was gathered on medical humanities curricula, programming, offerings, research, and other opportunities at each institution. Raw data were noted with collection dates and hyperlinks to original source webpages for reproducibility.

Data analysis

Given the absence of an appropriate instrument, we developed the Humanities and Arts Programming Scale (HARPS) to assess both the opportunities for students to engage with the arts and humanities as a part of their medical education as well as the institutional infrastructure to support those opportunities. We began with a review of the literature to identify areas that would be indicators of institutional excellence in the incorporation of medical humanities in the educational experience of students. This review provided the basis for the development of the HARPS as an 18-point evaluation scale composed of the following eight domains: Infrastructure, Curricular Opportunities, Extracurricular Programing, Opportunities for Immersion, Faculty Engagement, Staff Support, Student Groups, and Scholarship. The definitions of the 8 domains are in Table  1 , while Table  2 describes the rubric for scoring. The two data-collecting researchers independently scored all 31 institutions in all eight categories before coming together with all the investigators to compare evaluations and discuss any differences in scoring. Use of hyperlinks and detailed data-recording allowed for reconciliation of all perceived discrepancies to create a final scoring evaluation for each reviewed institution. Descriptive statistics for each school were calculated using Excel (Microsoft, version). Linear regression analyses with USNWR ranking as the dependent variable and x independent variables were performed using Graphpad Prism (version 9.5.0), which was also used to do the statistical analyses, as well as create the frequency distribution and correlational plots. Further details on the development of the HARPS can be found in Supplemental Information, Appendix 2.

The presence of the medical humanities in US medical schools

Individual domain and cumulative HARPS score data for the group of 31 schools are presented in Table  3 . The average total score was 11.26 out of a possible 18 points (62.6%), with a median total score of 12 (66.7%) and a standard deviation of 4.35 (Table  3 ).

No institution received a full 18 points, with total scores ranging between 3 and 17 (Fig.  1 ). Three (9.6%) institutions scored between 0 and 4 points, nine (29.0%) between 5 and 9, eleven (35.5%) between 10 and 14, and eight (25.8%) between 15 and 18. Twenty-three schools (74.2%) received more than 50% of available points (score > 9).

Frequency distribution of the cumulative HARPS score

Shown is the frequency distribution the cumulative HARPS score of the 31 schools obtained from summing the scores of the eight individual sub-domains (see Tables  1 and 2 ). Means, median and standard deviations are presented in Table  3

We also assessed whether there was an association between the cumulative HARPS score and the public versus private status of an institution (Table S2 , Fig. S1 ). We found that a school’s status as a public versus a private entity was not significantly associated with the HARPS cumulative score (10.92, SD 3.68 versus 11.47, SD 4.72, p = 0.626, Mann-Whitney Test, two-tailed) (Fig.  3 ). This remained true even when restricting analysis to the institutions with total HARPS score in the top 75th and top 50th percentile (Chi-Square, p = 0.355, p = 0.379, respectively). Public institutions were among the highest scorers, with two schools scoring in the 15–18 points range. Notably, the lowest scoring institutions were all private, with no public school scoring fewer than six points.

The medical humanities by domains of analysis in US medical schools

Data (Fig.  4 ) for each domain of the HARPS along with a pertinent representative institutional example are presented below.

Infrastructure: centers, institutes and programs

Sixteen medical schools support centers, institutes, or departments dedicated to the medical humanities or social sciences (Fig.  4 A). These schools either had a center focused solely on the medical humanities or a shared center with a clear subsection or division dedicated to the medical humanities. Conversely, seven schools had centers where medical humanities or social sciences were a component of the program. This most frequently included centers that merged medical humanities and bioethics but did not have a distinct subsection or subdepartment dedicated to the medical humanities (Fig.  4 A). For eight schools there were no current centers which included the medical humanities or social sciences (Fig.  4 A).

Founded in 1999, Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine [ 28 ] has continuously supported interdisciplinary learning, with each of the listed domains - bioethics, humanities, and history of medicine – having distinct programing within the center. These programs include curricular initiatives, scholarship, and creative projects aimed at bringing together scholars throughout the larger community to foster research and other collaborations. Faculty within bioethics and history of medicine also teach courses accessible to undergraduate medical students. Overall, their program emphasizes how medical humanities intersects broadly with domains within and outside medicine and creates spaces to learn and explore these intersections.

Curricular opportunities

The majority of schools (22/31, 70.1%) received a score of 2 for curricular engagement, indicating they offered optional (not required for graduation) elective courses in the medical humanities (Fig.  4 B). Within this cohort there were a diversity of offerings, with some institutions offering limited panels of 1–2 electives during the preclinical period, while others offer many electives in a variety of disciplines across the pre-and post-clerkship periods. Of the remaining nine schools, three (9.6%), had courses in the arts and humanities as requirements for graduation, three integrated humanistic themes into larger courses and for the remaining three, evidence for a medical humanities curriculum could not be found.

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University provides an example of this mandatory incorporation, as first-year medical students must complete a half-semester seminar in the humanities [ 29 ]. The curricula include 12–15 seminars offerings each year, taught either by physicians or by relevant arts and humanities professionals, in areas such as dance, literary studies, visual arts, narrative medicine, history of medicine, photography, film, and religious studies. The variety of disciplines allows students from a diversity of backgrounds to find content that engages them. Further detail on institutional coursework and electives can be found in Supplemental Information Appendix 3.

Extracurricular engagement

The majority of schools (20/31, 64.5%) offered 10 or more events across a one-year period, with seven schools offering less than 10 events and four schools offering none (Fig.  4 C). Of the schools with events, programming included weekly conversations on arts and humanities, author talks, and performances. Some events were hosted through the schools’ respective medical humanities or social science institutes while others were organized by student groups.

The University of Pittsburgh supports initiatives across medical history, religion and other humanities [ 30 ]. The CF Reynold Medical History Society is a Pittsburgh-based medical history and humanities organization that hosts free public lectures. Some lecture examples include Defining and Treating Heart Disease: A History, What is the Sound of History? and The Revolutionaries in the History of Radiology . The Health Humanities Lecture Series aims to connect issues in disability, embodiment, trauma, with the arts, humanities and sociocultural studies. There are up to 11 lectures each year. The University of Pittsburgh also supports a Healthcare and Religion lecture series, a religion resource map, and a podcast titled Remains to be Seen .

Opportunities for immersion in the medical humanities

There was a wide distribution of longitudinal, immersive opportunities available to students (Fig.  4 D). Nine (29%) medical schools provide a defined track or area of concentration that includes both curricular and research components. Nine (29%) schools provided dedicated research paths. Four medical schools provide opportunities to do research in the medical humanities but not as a defined program. Lastly, for nine medical schools a specific opportunity for an immersive research or curricular experience or pathway in the medical humanities could not be identified.

The Case Western School of Medicine’s Humanities Pathways exemplifies a multifaceted, longitudinal learning opportunity [ 31 ]. Each year, 8–10 students are accepted and supported by 20 faculty on the Pathway Advisory Committee. Throughout the first and second years there are weekly seminars averaging to 3–4 h per week. In addition, students take courses at the University in the humanities or social sciences. This foundational knowledge is then translated into a final scholarly project under the guidance of a mentor.

Faculty and staff engaged in or supporting the medical humanities

While 18 (58%) of the evaluated institutions had more than 10 faculty members formally affiliated with the medical humanities, a more polarized distribution was seen (Fig.  4 E). Nine institutions (29%) had between 0 and 5 faculty, while only four (12.9%) had between 5 and 10 faculty. Despite the variation in faculty engagement, 22 (70.9%) of schools had more than one administrative or staff employee involved with medical humanities programming (Fig.  4 F). Notably, not all of the institutions with significant faculty support had dedicated administrative staff. Two programs with 5–10 faculty were found to not have any staff, while three institutions with less than five faculty did have additional staff support. Non-faculty, staff roles ranged from administrative personnel to writers/artists-in-residence.

Stanford University School of Medicine provides an example of how diverse positions and responsibilities can create a robust educational and scholarly environment for medical humanities. Housed within the school’s Biomedical Ethics Program, Stanford’s Medicine and the Muse has a large team drawn from a variety of disciplines and educational levels [ 32 ]. The 13-member steering committee contains medical students, residents, attending physicians and several faculty members from humanities and arts departments across the university. This steering committee oversees the work of an Executive Director and Program Director that perform the daily administration of the program. The Medicine and the Muse program also houses a visiting faculty Writer-in-Residence as part of the core team. Outside of this core, 58 additional faculty from both the medical school and the broader university participate as affiliated faculty.

Student groups

Student groups were an area of strength across the surveyed institutions (Fig.  4 G). Twenty-one (67.7%) of institutions had more than five medical humanities-related organizations. Another eight (25.8%) had three to five groups, with only two schools having fewer than three of these student organizations. The interests of these groups were varied and included narrative writing, culinary medicine, dance, and medical history. Literary and art magazines are common, present at 77.4% of institutions.

Ohio State’s medical school provides an example of the breadth of student-run medical humanities student groups [ 33 ]. In addition to their literary and arts magazine, Ether Arts, Ohio State boasts an orchestra, dance club, and an acapella singing group. The school also hosts a writing group, theater/film in medicine organization, and a photography club. Stretching beyond the more common disciplines in the medical humanities, Ohio State students have created an improvisational acting group teaching students how to use improv skills in clinical encounters, a cultural cooking class to build cultural, historical, and social competency, and even a crochet organization that supports local hospitals while instilling a culture of service. Full details on student groups can be found in Supplemental Information Appendix 4.

Research/scholarship related to the arts and humanities

Almost a third of medical schools (10/31) noted more than 10 research projects (Fig.  4 H) in the past five years. Of the remaining schools with research projects, five (16.1%) and eight (25.8%) respectively noted 6–10 and 1–5 research projects. Eight schools (25.8%) had no identifiable ongoing research projects. Both faculty-led scholarship and student-led projects were identified.

UCLA’s Center for Social Medicine and Humanities places an emphasis on applying these domains to address health, disease, and medicine through the lens of social justice [ 34 ]. The faculty’s scholarship highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the center, with faculty possessing backgrounds in medicine, anthropology, and history all represented. With varied expertise, research touches on the history of psychiatry, legacies of imperialism in global HIV/AIDS responses, perceptions of illness, ethnographic studies of physician-patient subjectivity, and interpersonal violence.

Previous studies on the presence of the medical humanities in UME have focused on curricular programing without explicit reference to the associated paracurricular environment or institutional infrastructure that facilitates students’ engagement in the arts and humanities [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. In this paper, we used a novel, evidence-based, multi-domain scale (HARPS) we developed for assessing the opportunity for students at an individual medical school to engage with the arts and humanities as a part of their educational experience. Data derived from this instrument enables us to provide the first-of-its-kind-description of the state of medical humanities in UME, highlighting both areas of progress as well as opportunities for growth that we believe will foster the integration of the arts and humanities.

Overall, our data reveal a significant presence of the medical humanities throughout UME as suggested by the high median cumulative HARPS score of 12 for the 31 medical schools studied (Table  3 ). In line with this, our data demonstrate that medical humanities no longer appear to be a niche discipline confined to a minority of extraordinarily committed or well-funded institutions. This is evidenced by our findings that the cumulative HARPS score was not associated with USNWR ranking or an institution’s public versus private status (Figs.  2 and 3 ) and numerous exemplars of the various domains were identified throughout the list of schools. Additionally, more than half of the institutions surveyed had a humanities-focused center or division (Fig.  4 A), with more than 70% of the schools having significant (more than five) faculty engaged in the medical humanities (Fig.  4 E) as well as staff support (Fig.  4 F). That said, the integration of the arts and humanities does vary widely (Fig.  1 ), with six schools receiving a HARPS score ≤ 6, indicating that some institutions lag significantly behind their peers in their efforts to build environments conducive for the medical humanities.

The association between cumulative HARPS score and USNWR ranking

Shown is a scatter plot of the cumulative HARPS score versus USNWR ranking for the 31 schools in the study. A linear regression analysis failed to demonstrate a significant association between USNWR and the HARPS cumulative score (F [ 1 , 29 ] = 2.56, p = 0.121)

The association between cumulative HARPS score and medical status as a private versus public institution

No significant differences were found between private and public institutions in their cumulative HARPS score (p = 0.626, Mann-Whitney U-Test, two-tailed)

Frequency distributions of the score for each of the HARPS sub-domain

Shown are the frequency distributions of the scores for each of the eight HARPS sub-domains as defined in Table  1 and derived in Table  2 . Means, median and standard deviations for each sub-domain are presented in Table  3

Our data identified two areas of strength with respect to the presence of medical humanities in UME. The opportunity for extracurricular engagement was strong with more than two-thirds of schools offering 10 or more events annually related to arts and humanities (Fig.  4 C), while nearly 70% of the institutions surveyed had more than five student organizations focused on the medical humanities or related creative disciplines (Fig.  4 G). Student groups are especially important as they provide outlets for interested students, sponsor relevant programming, are sources of innovative programing and advocate for institutional change. They also likely fill the void at schools where the institutional engagement in the medical humanities is weak. That said, institutional integration of the arts and humanities is not sustainable by student energy and passion alone. Annual turnovers in student group leadership and interest in or capacity for engaging in curricular efforts will likely vary from year to year, inevitably hindering longitudinal integration.

In addition to these areas of strength, our data suggest areas for focus and growth, including curricular opportunities (Fig.  4 B) and opportunities for immersion (Fig.  4 D). While the overwhelming majority (22/31) of institutions offered non-credit medical humanities electives for their students, only three medical schools required explicit instruction in the arts and humanities. Further, of the eight highest performing institutions (HARPS score ≥ 16), only two had required curricular components. These data suggest that there are significant opportunities to integrate the arts and humanities into the required core curricula in UME. Considering the substantial and growing evidence of the value of the arts and humanities in fostering clinical as well as affective, cognitive, and relational skills, the urgency for curricular integration becomes even more compelling [ 16 , 18 , 23 , 24 ]. Additionally, in only 29% of the institutions surveyed were there formal pathways for students to have a comprehensive (research and classwork), immersive experience in the medical humanities, with the same proportion offering either a limited research or classwork-only tract. This finding, together with the lack of required coursework, means that many medical students, assuming they have the interest and are motivated to seek it out, may only experience the medical humanities through student-initiated programing, occasional institutional events, and/or a limited number of elective courses.

With respect to scholarship in the medical humanities, research outputs varied widely (Fig.  4 H). Research scores were significantly higher near the top of USNWR rankings (data not shown), consistent with the weighting of the USNWR rankings toward research funding. Active scholars and scholarship in the arts and humanities provides content experts for course/program development, instruction and evaluation, mentors for students, and opportunities for student research, and so contributes to the development of a strong institutional presence for the medical humanities.

Strengths and limitations

An important contribution of this work to the literature is the development of the HARPS as a tool for the structured evaluation of the integration of the arts and humanities within UME. While further validation and refinement are ongoing to determine its range of use within and outside of UME, we believe this instrument may provide a rubric for evaluating the presence, scope, and depth of the medical humanities at a medical school and so eventually enable benchmarks for excellence and milestones of growth. Several limitations, however, should be noted. First, the medical schools reviewed were derived from the USNWR ranking. Although our study involved 20% of US allopathic medical schools, with a mix of both private and public medical schools, as well as stand-alone medical schools not associated with a larger university, given the metrics that drive the USNWR rankings, the institutions we studied may not be fully representative of US medical schools. It is also important to note that beginning in 2023, a number of the highly ranked USNWR medical schools are no longer participating in the USNWR survey. In this regard we would highlight institutions that have been recognized for leadership and innovation in incorporating the medical humanities into their education, research, and practice (see Supplemental Material, Appendix 5) but did not meet the threshold for inclusion in this study. Examples include the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, and Penn State College of Medicine. Another limitation is our data source: medical school websites. This information may not be reflective of current programming or activities nor fully capture all that is pertinent to art and humanities at a particular institution. This limitation was our rationale for anonymizing the quantitative data across all institutions. It would therefore be important to confirm our findings by directly surveying these institutions in subsequent studies. In addition, our study focused on the institutional presence of the medical humanities but did not explicitly investigate the effectiveness or impact of that presence on students’ learning and professional development. Future studies should therefore also address the educational quality of the arts and humanities programing provided by an institution through strategies including direct contact with faculty and staff, student surveys and focus groups [ 16 ]. Further, as pedagogy for the medical humanities evolve and mature, there will be the need for metrics that address the educational quality and impact of this instruction as well as the credentials and expertise of the faculty providing this education, some of which might be incorporated into future iterations of the HARPS. Finally, it would be of particular interest to study the long-term impact of medical students’ exposure to the humanities on their future careers as physicians, including outcomes such as professional empathy and compassion, communication skills, teamwork, professional satisfaction, and burnout.

This report documents a significant presence of the medical humanities in UME in the United States, with more than 50% of studied institutions having a humanities-focused center or division as well as significant faculty and staff engagement in this area. While students are able to readily engage the arts and humanities through paracurricular events and through medical humanities student groups, the integration of the arts and humanities into the required core UME curricula and into comprehensive, immersive pathways for engaging the medical humanities are much less common. Therefore, in line with the recommendations of the FRAHME initiative,[ 16 ] an important next step in extending the medical humanities in UME should involve the integration of effective competency-based teaching and learning of the arts and humanities into longitudinal, immersive experiences and core curricula.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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“J.A. and P.C. performed the data collection, data analysis with support and supervision by C.J.D., wrote the initial draft of the manuscript text and prepared the figures. H.D. and A.S. provided oversight and supervision of the research project. H.D. edited and prepared the final draft of manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.“

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. HARPS scores by US News Ranking. Table S2 . HARPS scores for public and private medical schools. Figure S1 . HARPS scores by private versus public status. Box plots comparing public and private institutions across the eight HARPS domains. Detailed breakdown found in Table S2.

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Anil, J., Cunningham, P., Dine, C.J. et al. The medical humanities at United States medical schools: a mixed method analysis of publicly assessable information on 31 schools. BMC Med Educ 23 , 620 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04564-y

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04564-y

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The introduction of medical humanities in the undergraduate curriculum of Greek medical schools: challenge and necessity

A batistatou.

1 Medical School, Ioannina University, Ioannina, Greece

2 Medical School, Athens University, Greece

A Anogiannaki

3 Medical School, Aristotles University, Thessaloniki, Greeece

K Charalabopoulos

Background and Aim: Medical humanities is a multidisciplinary field, consisting of humanities (theory of literature and arts, philosophy, ethics, history and theology), social sciences (anthropology, psychology and sociology) and arts (literature, theater, cinema, music and visual arts), integrated in the undergraduate curriculum of Medical schools. The aim of the present study is to discuss medical humanities and support the necessity of introduction of a medical humanities course in the curriculum of Greek medical schools.

Materials, Methods and Results: Through the relevant Pub-Med search as well as taking into account various curricula of medical schools, it is evident that medical education today is characterized by acquisition of knowledge and skills and development of medical values and attitudes. Clinical observation with the recognition of key data and patterns in the collected information, is crucial in the final medical decision, i.e. in the complex process, through which doctors accumulate data, reach conclusions and decide on therapy. All sciences included in medical humanities are important for the high quality education of future doctors. The practice of Medicine is in large an image-related science. The history of anatomy and art are closely related, already from the Renaissance time. Studies have shown that attendance of courses on art critics improves the observational skills of medical students. Literature is the source of information about the nature and source of human emotions and behavior and of narratives of illness, and increases imagination. Philosophy aids in the development of analytical and synthetical thinking. Teaching of history of medicine develops humility and aids in avoiding the repetition of mistakes of the past, and quite often raises research and therapeutic skepticism. The comprehension of medical ethics and professional deontology guides the patient-doctor relationship, as well as the relations between physicians and their colleagues. The Medical Humanities course, which is already integrated in the undergraduate curriculum of many medical schools of Europe, USA and Australia, includes lectures by experts and students presentations on the above-mentioned areas and could be offered, for a semester, during the first years.

Conclusion: The aim of Medical Humanities course is the development of imagination and interpretation of data through analytical complex procedures, the development of skills of close observation and careful interpretation of the patient "language" and the enhancement of empathy for the patients, as well as the development of the physician-patient relationship and finally the conceptualization/construction of personal and professional values.

The purpose of medical education is to prepare competent physicians. In order to achieve this it must transmit knowledge and skills and inculcate medical values and attitudes, in a balanced and integrated way. Today, the undergraduate medical curriculum is overwhelmed by biomedical sciences courses, since the developments of cell and molecular biology enforced the expansion of their teaching within the curriculum time 1 . Traditional and modern methods, such as simulations and virtual reality have been used in Medical schools worldwide ensuring acquisition of theoretical knowledge and skills by the medical students 2 . Thus, students face immense pressure to master the theoretical knowledge and skills of the core medical education, which often leads to burnout syndrome 3 . By nature such knowledge enhances the belief on the order and predictability of diagnosis and treatment 4 . Since medical students spend most of their time in memorizing and processing information, the lack of encouragement and time for reflection endangers the adoption of a dogmatic approach to medical practice 4 .

Today, medical practice is dominated by evidencedbased- medicine (EBM) 5 . EBM encompasses three essences: the scientific hypothesis, the constantly growing body of evidence and the ideal professional practice of medicine 6 . It integrates best evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. It applies the analytical approach to data generated by quantitative methods. Medicine is dominated by problem solving, and students may spend their talent and efforts in finding just one correct answer, failing to reflect on deeper questions regarding their role in as health care providers. Thus, the essential humanitarian instincts of medical students are left without attention and nurture and the danger of loosing humanity in the practice of medicine is real 1 , 7 .

However, students should be trained to be interested to the patient as a whole, rather than to the symptom alone; to be interested in people rather than in diseases. Humanities share with medicine the focus on humans. Medical humanities provide insight into human conditions, illness and suffering, perception of oneself, as well as into professionalism and responsibilities to self and others; colleagues and patients. All sciences included in Medical Humanities are important for the high quality education of future doctors. Introduction into the world of arts and literature induces the development of observational skills, analytical reasoning, empathy and self-reflection 8 .

Medical Humanities

Clinical judgment is largely visually-based and in art observation is "seeing 9 , 10 ". We are used to say that the doctor "sees" patients, without actually realizing the meaning of this phrase. Clinical observation is important for medical decision-making. It includes collection of data, identification of the key pieces between them, recognition of the patterns in the gathered data and interpretation 11 . All future doctors are encouraged to develop their clinical acumen through the understanding of the clinical reasoning process.

The patients provide a wealth of informational images, already at presentation and on physical examination, as well as via sophisticated imaging techniques. Imaging is very important in modern medicine. Interpretation of images is vital in patient care. In order to become a competent physician it is important that the future doctor is able to "see' rather than just "look"; therefore, students should be trained to deep seeing. Medical school teachers usually assume that students have a generic capability of visual acuity, perceptual discrimination and judgment in visual domains, and expect that it will be enriched and refined through study and experience.

Vision is always an important sense for diagnosis, particularly in radiology, pathology and dermatology. EBM has refined the experimental methodology but has not adequately dealt with the complexities of observational research 12 . Traditional medical training is based on the assumption that close attention is inherently present in all students, lies on the teaching of specific rules on recognition of patterns and leaves specific discrimination to develop through experience. Thus, when looking at an X-ray or a glass slide the student only thinks of basic relevant knowledge. Only if he/she takes one step further she/ he can appreciate and interpret the images; can interiorize knowledge 13 . Studies have shown that systematic observation of paintings can enhance medical students'and doctors' observational skills 14 , 15 . In addition, the depth of perceptual capability is enhanced through induction of imagination and the provision of metaphorical language that informs perception 16 , 17 . Furthermore, humanities add an aesthetic dimension to clinical work 9 . Medicine and art are inter-related, already from the Renaissance time, with artists working closely with anatomists and surgeons 18 .

Medical humanities focus on the importance of education to the tolerance of ambiguity in the "connoisseurship" of patient-generated images, in parallel with the traditional technical-rational mode of clinical reasoning 19 . Furthermore, it brings to attention the tacit dimension of knowledge, that is the aspect of human knowledge, which lies outside rules and presupposes explicit skills, competencies and reasoning abilities 13 . This awareness by the tutors can aid in the education of students in associative and holistic pattern recognition and non-analytical reasoning strategies 13 .

Literature is the source of information about the nature and source of human emotions and behavior and of narratives of illness, and increases imagination and empathy 20 , 21 . Images of disease and death are common in literature and can serve as important recourses for medical education, since they increase the awareness of conditions and experiences one may not have 22 . Narrative methods are widely applied in medicine. Patients tell their stories to their doctors, who tell stories to their colleagues when presenting cases and face the patient as a text that needs interpretation 23 , 24 . Literary studies can enhance the effectiveness of performance in the narrative aspects of medicine. Furthermore, literature can be used to yield ethical teaching points 25 . Besides patients narratives of illness, there are themes of illness and images of physicians in well-known novels as well as a wealth of literature written by physician-writers, such as Francois Rabelais, John Keats, Sir A Conan Doyle, Anton Chekhov, A.J. Cronin, Walker Percy 24 , the recently awarded with the most prestigious literary award in Canada, Vincent Lam, and Greece's own Andreas Karkavitsas and Takis Sinopoulos, to name a few. Medical biographies are also important, since they offer students a glimpse in lives of physicians that can be inspiring and "role-model" generating. Furthermore, the recognition of the human nature of the biographied physicians, with their values and deficiencies, is also didactic in the effort to humanize medical practice 26 .

The students' exposure to social sciences helps them orient their future medical practice within the cultural and social contexts of the community. This is particularly important in the current era of molecular science, since it equips future physicians to meet moral challenges that are not taught in the offered biomedicine courses

Philosophy aids in the development of analytical and synthetical reasoning and in the definition of our common faith and shared humanity.

Teaching of history of medicine develops humility and the sense that what we now accept as the unmistakably true knowledge may not prove such in the future 26 . It aids in the avoidance of mistakes of the past, and quite often raises research and therapeutic skepticism, implementing the forces that influence the medical system 27 .

The comprehension of medical ethics and professional deontology guides the patient-doctor relationship, as well as the relations between physicians and their colleagues. In Greece many of the aspects of Medical Humanities are covered by "Medical Ethics" and "Medical History" courses, which are included in the curriculum of many Medical Schools.

Medical Humanities course

The proposal is to incorporate humanities-based teaching material into the undergraduate curriculum of Greek medical schools. The Medical Humanities course, is already integrated in the curriculum of many medical schools of Europe, USA and Australia, usually for one semester in the first years and includes presentations and essays by small groups on the above-mentioned entities. The humanities course will encompass the use of literature (written by physicians, patients or narrating illness) and arts (visual, in the form of painting or photographic exhibits, and art critic lectures and performing). Independent humanities research projects, e.g. in sociology, anthropology, history etc can also be included 28 .

The tight medical curriculum is appreciated and the skepticism might be that the addition of this new course might burden further the already overwhelmed medical students. However, the study of humanities is generally pleasurable and gives to the student a break from laboratory and clinical responsibilities. It can serve as a zone of creative relaxation, where medical students can develop imagination, creativity, self-awareness and empathy. In that sense medical humanities can provide the background to future physicians to counteract burnout.

Conclusions

The introduction of medical humanities in the undergraduate curriculum, aims to educate medical students rather than simply to train them 29 . This can only be achieved through the offer of the multifaceted view of medical humanities. Future doctors are educated to value reason as well as aesthetics, to focus on meaning and to combine the theoretical lucidity with the ambiguity and uncertainty 30 , 31 . They develop imagination and abilities for interpretation of data through analytical and synthetical reasoning, skills of close observation and careful interpretation of the patient "language', empathy for the patients and conceptualize and construct personal and professional values. A medical humanities course, could be offered in Greek medical Schools, for a semester, during the first years. This would add richness to medical education and practice and support the development of an exceptional medicine that constantly progresses and satisfies the communities' social, ethical and scientific needs.

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Reference Works for Background Reading

Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology  - " The entries in this encyclopedia explore the changing character of science, medicine, and technology in the United States; the key individuals, institutions, and organizations responsible for major developments; and the concepts, practices, and processes underlying these changes...The encyclopedia situates specific events, theories, practices, and institutions in their proper historical context and explores their impact on American society and culture. Entries are written by experts in the field." - publisher's website

Oxford Research Encyclopedias - new comprehensive collections of in-depth, peer-reviewed summaries on an ever-growing range of topics (African History, Economics and Finance, Literature, American History, Education, Natural Hazard Science, Asian History, Social Work, Neuroscience , Business and Management, Environmental Science, Oxford Classical Dictionary , Climate Science, International Studies, Politics, Communication, Latin American History , Psychology , Criminology and Criminal Justice , Linguistics, and Religion).

The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine Fifth ed. (2015) - comprehensive resource for consumers interested in health information. It provides health and medical information on approximately 2,000 topics, including health issues of global importance. Entries do not use technical jargon, making them easier to understand. The encyclopedia is extremely thorough, well organized, and enhanced with color photos and illustrations. Related entries and resource lists give readers suggestions for further research, and organizations listed can provide additional assistance.

Magill's Medical Guide 7 th ed. (2014) – provid[es] general readers with the most authoritative yet accessible reference source that helps bridge the gap between medical encyclopedias and dictionaries for professionals and popular self-help guides. A perfect mix of accessibility and depth…” – from the publisher’s website

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures   - as the title suggests, this encyclopedia is inclusive of scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. Each entry includes bibliographic reference to assist in further reading and sourcing.

Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's Cultures (2004) -  the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world. - from the publisher's website

Health and Medicine through History: From Ancient Practices to 21st-Century Innovations (2019) - a comprehensive (1,127 pages) yet concise global exploration of health and medicine from ancient times to the present day, helping readers to trace the development of concepts and practices around the world (eBook)

Oxford Bibliographies - these authoritative research guides combine the best features of an annotated bibliography with a high-level encyclopedia across a variety of subject areas.  Subject areas include: African American Studies , American Literature, Anthropology , Art History, Atlantic History, Biblical Studies, British and Irish Literature, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Evolutionary Biology, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistics, Literary and Critical Theory, Medieval Studies, Philosophy , Psychology , Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, Sociology, and Victorian Literature.

The Cambridge World History of Human Disease  (1993) - title link is of for the eBook; also in print ) - traces the concept of disease throughout history and in each major world region. It offers the history and geography of each significant human disease--both historical and contemporary--from AIDS to yellow fever, and touches on the variety of approaches that different medical traditions have used to fight disease. Accessible to lay people and specialists alike

Journal of Medical Biography  (London: Royal Society of Medicine, 1993-2012) - focuses on the lives of people in or associated with medicine, those considered legendary as well as the less well known. The journal includes much original research about figures from history and their afflictions

Books for the Medical Humanities

Brian Dolan, Humanitas: Readings in the Development of the Medical Humanities (2015) - This reader reprints critical essays published over the course of a 100-year history that grapple with the challenges of defining and justifying the presence of humanities instruction in medical education...with a comprehensive historiographical introduction." -  - publisher's website    

Thomas R. Cole et al, Medical Humanities: An Introduction (2015) - "Using concepts and methods of the humanities, the book addresses undergraduate and premed students, medical students, and students in other health professions, as well as physicians and other healthcare practitioners. It encourages them to consider the ethical and existential issues related to the experience of disease, care of the dying, health policy, religion and health, and medical technology." - publisher's website  

Paul Crawford et al, Health Humanities (2015) - "This is the first manifesto for health humanities worldwide. It sets out the context for this emergent and innovative field which extends beyond medical humanities to advance the inclusion and impact of the arts and humanities in healthcare, health and well-being." - Google Books summary  

Sander Gilman, Illness and Image: Case Studies in the Medical Humanities (2015) - case studies include: circumcision, face transplants, posture, obesity, pain, madness, self-harm, race, and death   

Therese Jones et al, Health Humanities Reader (2014) - "consists of nearly 50 chapters, some of which deal with classic medical humanities topics, such as the notions of health and disease and the theory of the body.  The majority of the book centers on more contemporary issues, such as gender and sexuality, disability, and aging.  The depth and rigor of the collection are equally varied as the  style and genre of writing (academic essays to short plays, poems, and comics .)  Novices or students may prefer to first develop a solid body of knowledge of the medical humanities to fully appreciate the richness of this collection ..." review by P. Rodriguez del Pozo, MD, JD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar), for Choice

Journals for the Medical Humanities

Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1939-present) - As  the official publication of the American Association for the History of Medicine ( AAHM ) and the Johns Hopkins Institute of the History of Medicine, the Bulletin is a leading journal in its field spanning the social, cultural, and scientific aspects of the history of medicine worldwide. WUSTL  Libraries owns the full run but it is split between JSTOR and Project MUSE . 

Journal of Medical Humanities (1979-present) - publishes original interdisciplinary studies on the history, philosophy, and bioethics in the medical and behavioral sciences as well as pedagogical perspectives explaining what and how knowledge is made and valued in medicine, how that knowledge is expressed and transmitted, and the ideological basis of medical education. WashU Libraries' access is spread across  Academic Search Complete , Springerlink Contemporary, as well as print editions for years prior to 1997 (starting with v.10 in 1989).

Journal of Medicine and Philosophy  (1976-) - Published by Oxford University Press, J. Med. Philos . is a flagship, international scholarly journal in bioethics and the philosophy of medicine. WashU Libraries has print editions from v.7-33 (1982-2008) and electronic versions from the first issue through 1995 in Oxford Journals 2018 Humanities Archive and from 1996 to present in Oxford Journals A-Z Collection . If you search  Academic Search Complete , you will only find articles from 1997 to one year ago. 

Medical History (1957-present) - is an international journal for the history of medicine and related sciences published by Cambridge University Press. All issues can be found through PubMed Central .

Medical Humanities (2000-present) - Published on behalf of the Institute of Medical Ethics and the British Medical Association. All issues can be found through BMJ Journals and should not be confused with 

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1957-present) - is an interdisciplinary journal from the Johns Hopkins University Press which publishes essays that place biological and medical topics within broad scientific, social, or humanistic contexts for scientists, physicians, students, and scholars. All issues are available through Project MUSE .

Social History of Medicine (1988- ) - is the journal for the Society for the Social History of Medicine and is published by Oxford University Press. It began publication in 1970 as the  Bulletin for the Social History of Medicine  and publishes cutting-edge research on the history of all aspects of health, illness and medical treatment in the past, from antiquity to the present. WashU Libraries only has access to issues from 1988 to present. 

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part C, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences  -  (1998-present) is published by Elsevier and is devoted to historical, sociological, philosophical and ethical aspects of the life and environmental sciences, of the sciences of mind and behavior, and of the medical and biomedical sciences and technologies.WashU Libraries has access to all issues through Science Direct Journals . 

Additional Journal Databases

History of Science, Medicine, and Technology integrates four bibliographies: the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science, the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. It is updated on a monthly basis and includes bibliographic records for records of journal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, serials, maps, and other related materials.

History databases America: History & Life (1964-)   contains only journals related  history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Historical Abstracts (1955- )  covers world history from 1450 to the present

Philosophy databases

PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. We monitor all sources of research content in philosophy, including journals, books, open access archives, and personal pages maintained by academics. We also host the largest open access archive in philosophy.

Medical databases

PubMed (1946 - )  - includes over 3,500 journals published internationally, covering all areas of medicine. Includes the entire Medline database (1966+) PLUS PreMedline (recent articles that are not yet fully indexed for Medline) and links to publisher full-text web sites and other databases.

Hein Online  - more than 900 searchable full-text law journals and many legal resources, including the Code of Federal Regulations, United States Code, and U.S. Statutes at Large. Campus-wide access is due to subscription by the WU Law Library.

Classics Resources

Classics Librarian Christie Peters Research Guide to Classics

Multidisciplinary databases

JSTOR  - multidisciplinary, a lot of full text articles, but subject headings are too broad

Academic Search Complete (1975-present)  - multidisciplinary; subject headings may or may not be LCSH; also made by EBSCO, so overlaps with America: History & Life

JSTOR v. Academic Search Complete

Google Scholar  - articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web. While Google Scholar itself is free on the web, many of the citations it references are not.

Primo - is a "discovery tool" that searches WUSTL's library catalog as well as a number of newspaper and journal databases at one time, but it doesn't retrieve all of their content nor does it search all databases

Google Scholar v. Primo

Project MUSE  - a comprehensive collection of peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journals from leading university presses, not-for-profit publishers and prestigious scholarly societies.

Scopus  - The world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Contains over 46 million records, 70% with abstracts, and also includes over 4.6 million conference papers.

Primary Sources

State Medical Society Journals  - this collection encompasses nearly 50 state medical journals published between and 1844 annd 2017 and is hosted by the Internet Archive. The older editions could be considered primary sources, as they reflect the historical perspective of the medical profession in their time. 

Making of Modern Law collections include:  Legal Treatises, 1800-1926; Trials, 1600-1926; Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926; Foreign Primary Sources, 1600-1970; Primary Sources, 1620-1926, and U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978.

Medical Heritage Library   is a collection of digitized medical rare books, pamphlets, journals, and films number in the tens of thousands, with representative works from each of the past six centuries, collaboratively curated from among some of the world’s leading medical libraries and made available through the Internet Archive.

Early American Medical Imprints; A guide to works printed in the United States, 1668-1820   - published in 1961 and compiled by the thirty-five year cataloguer at the National Library of Medicine, it contains every medical work, even some material pertaining to veterinary medicine, vital statistics and medical legislation, published in the U.S. for the period described in the title. 

Hathi Trust - a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via the Google Books project and Internet Archive digitization initiatives as well as content digitized locally by libraries.

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• Medical Humanities

Humanities Databases

History databases, bioethics databases, medical & psychology databases, general databases.

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Selected Medical Humanities Journals

• Bulletin of the History of Medicine
• Journal of Medical Ethics
• Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
• Journal of the Medical Humanities
• Literature and Medicine
• Medical History
• Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (PEHM)
• Social History of Medicine
• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Provides access to worldwide scholarly research in literature (including drama), language, linguistics, folklore, film, radio, television, and theater, representing all national literatures. Does not include book reviews.
• PhilPapers This link opens in a new window PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. Using advanced trawling techniques and large scale crowdsourcing, we monitor all sources of research content in philosophy, including journals, books, open access archives, and personal pages maintained by academics. We also host the largest open access archive in philosophy. PhilPapers has over 60,000 registered users.
• Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window The primary index to the literature of philosophy. Provides indexing and abstracts for books and journals of philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields. For book reviews prior to 1985, use the print version.
• Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials This link opens in a new window Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials combines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with Atla’s full text collection of 350+ major religion and theology journals. This database is produced by American Theological Library Association, a membership association of collectors and connectors in religion and theology. more... less... Indexes a fairly comprehensive list of religion periodicals with extensive coverage of essay collections and Festschriften. Covers biblical commentary, mission activity, and topics in religion and theology. The database represents the following print sources: Religion Index 1 - Periodicals, 1949-present; Religion Index 2 -Multi-author works, 1960-present; Research in Ministry, 1981-present; Index to Book Reviews in Religion, 1949-present; Methodist Reviews Index, 1818-1985. This collection now includes content from Catholic Periodical and Literature Index
• Art Full Text This link opens in a new window Search for articles on fine arts, decorative and commercial art, folk art, photography, film, and architecture. Covers wide range of art journals back to 1984 and indexes dissertations and art reproductions. Art Index Retrospective covers the same material from 1929-1984.
• Film and Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window A bibliographic database that provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 300 publications, and selected coverage of 300 more.
• America: History & Life This link opens in a new window Primary index to research in American and Canadian history, including social and cultural history. Includes abstracts (summaries) of journal articles. Limit by language, time period, and document type (articles, collections of articles, books, and dissertations).
• Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Primary index to materials for research in non-U.S./non-Canadian history, including social and cultural history. Includes abstracts (summaries) of journal articles. Covers world history from 1450 to the present.
• EthxWeb A well-indexed collection of inter-disciplinary bioethics materials from 1974 - 2009.
• BELIT (Bioethics Literature Database) Provides access to approximately 470,000 records from integrated German, American and French databases.
• Islamic Medical and Scientific (IMSE) Database Comprises a wide range of resources that cover the broad spectrum of Islamic literature on biomedical ethics. Created in collaboration between the Bioethics Research Library and the School of Foreign Service Qatar Library in Doha.
• CINAHL This link opens in a new window The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) database provides indexing coverage of journals related to nursing and allied health. Subjects include cardiopulmonary technology, physical therapy, emergency service, physician assistant, health education, radiologic technology, medical/laboratory, technology therapy, medical assistant, social service/health care, medical records, surgical technology, and occupational therapy. more... less... Selected journals are also indexed in the areas of consumer health, biomedicine, and health sciences librarianship. The database also provides access to healthcare books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and audiovisual materials in nursing.
• MEDLINE (via OVID) This link opens in a new window A database that encompasses information from Index Medicus, Index to Dental Literature, and International Nursing Index, as well as other sources of coverage in the areas of allied health, biological and physical sciences, humanities and information science as they relate to medicine and health care, communication disorders, population biology, and reproductive biology. Also includes PreMEDLINE, a database of citations that have not yet been fully indexed for entry into MEDLINE.
• PubMed This link opens in a new window Free (non-subscription) access to the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE and PreMEDLINE. MEDLINE encompasses information from Index Medicus, Index to Dental Literature, and International Nursing Index, as well as other sources of coverage in the areas of allied health, biological and physical sciences, humanities and information science as they relate to medicine and health care, communication disorders, population biology, and reproductive biology.
• PsycINFO on Ovid This link opens in a new window The primary index to the literature of psychology and its related fields. Since 1887 covers journal articles, and since 1987, books and book chapters. International in scope, topics include psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law.
• PsycARTICLES on Ovid This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to psychology-related journals published by the APA, Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe Publishing Group. Articles are indexed in PsycINFO.
• Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window Full-text publications from all academic areas of study, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, education, computer science, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.
• JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text (in PDF format) of selected, important scholarly journals in a number of fields. Note: journals in JSTOR usually do not include the most recent three to five years.
• Project Muse This link opens in a new window Provides access to scholarly journals in the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics and many others. Full text is available for titles marked with a green arrow.
• ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window Combines several of the Library's heavily used databases, including ProQuest Research Library, into one easy-to-search interface. Thousands of journals, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, working papers, and other scholarly content on a very broad range of topics and sources.
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Journal of Medical Humanities - What We Publish

• Scholarly Articles addressing health humanities topics as defined in the Aims and Scope. These submissions can be up to 10,000 words excluding references and abstract. Formatting typically follows humanities long-form scholarly genres, with an introduction, theoretical framing and brief literature review, discussion of the topic with (textual) evidence and argumentation, and a conclusion speaking to transdisciplinary health humanities concerns.
• Review Essays covering at least two and up to four recently published books on a topic of interest. These submissions can be up to 6,000 words excluding references and abstract. Authors should submit a query to the editor via email to confirm the journal’s interest in publishing a review essay on the identified books. Review essays should specifically address how the books in question contribute to health humanities scholarship and/or teaching.
• Educational Research Articles about Humanities in Health Professions Education or graduate or baccalaureate Health Humanities Programs. These submissions can be up to 7,500 words excluding references and abstract. Educational research articles should contribute to theory and/or methodology in health humanities education research or report on large-scale studies of the state of the field, rather than demonstrate a successful program or argue for the value of humanities in medical or health professions education. (Introducing innovative activities or curricula can be accomplished under Innovations in Health Humanities, described below.)
• Forum Essays are collections of 2-4 short pieces that address circulating “big questions” in the field (for example, what is the role of suffering in medical student experience?) or theoretical framings (for example, political economy and health humanities). Authors should submit a query to the editor via email to confirm the journal’s interest in the topic. Each forum essay can be up to 2,000 words and 10 references. The collection should be submitted as a single submission with one corresponding author and abstract.
• Short Takes: Innovations in Health Humanities are essays of up to 2,000 words excluding references that (1) describe innovations in health humanities education or (2) interpret artifacts, documents, or media, including visual arts, with the purpose of introducing them to the journal’s readership for teaching or research purposes. These essays need not provide a literature review or detailed description of research methods. They are meant to be rigorous but less formal scholarly interventions written in engaging prose with the intention of keeping readers up-to-date with developments in the field or emerging methods and ideas. Examples in this genre include descriptions of curricular innovations with brief comments about added value, reports on health humanities program development in global contexts, and descriptive interpretations of literary texts or films and their potential to contribute to research or teaching. Please provide an abstract of 150 to 250 words
• Creative Engagements include essays of up to 1,500 words or a series of photographs or other visual representations, including comics, that creatively engage with the field’s enduring and emerging questions. These submissions may have up to five references and do not need an abstract. This is a highly selective feature. Authors should clearly describe in their cover letter what makes their work innovative, distinct, and important to the field.
• Poetry that illuminates the primary foci of health humanities scholarship. For example, we seek poems that explore, critique, and/or record the experiences of illness, healing, embodiment, mortality, loss, disability, diversity, caregiving, health education, and medical practice.
• Brief Critical Reviews  of books or media of interest to the journal’s readership. Reviews can be up to 1,200 words if they cover one work. Authors should send an email query to the Book Review editor, Tony Miksanek ( [email protected] (this opens in a new tab) ) if they intend to submit a review to confirm the journal’s interest in publishing the review.

Please note: our readers are trained in a variety of disciplines, so scholarship focused on narrow disciplinary arguments or which utilize field-specific jargon are not likely to be accepted for publication. Articles that are extremely technical are not likely to be of interest to JMH readers.

All submissions undergo two anonymous peer reviews, except book reviews and forum essays, both of which are reviewed by the editors.

Queries can be sent to Bernice L. Hausman, Editor-in-Chief, at [email protected].

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77 interesting medical research topics for 2024

Last updated

25 November 2023

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Medical research is the gateway to improved patient care and expanding our available treatment options. However, finding a relevant and compelling research topic can be challenging.

Use this article as a jumping-off point to select an interesting medical research topic for your next paper or clinical study.

• How to choose a medical research topic

When choosing a research topic, it’s essential to consider a couple of things. What topics interest you? What unanswered questions do you want to address? 

During the decision-making and brainstorming process, here are a few helpful tips to help you pick the right medical research topic:

Focus on a particular field of study

The best medical research is specific to a particular area. Generalized studies are often too broad to produce meaningful results, so we advise picking a specific niche early in the process. 

Maybe a certain topic interests you, or your industry knowledge reveals areas of need.

Look into commonly researched topics

Once you’ve chosen your research field, do some preliminary research. What have other academics done in their papers and projects? 

From this list, you can focus on specific topics that interest you without accidentally creating a copycat project. This groundwork will also help you uncover any literature gaps—those may be beneficial areas for research.

Get curious and ask questions

Now you can get curious. Ask questions that start with why, how, or what. These questions are the starting point of your project design and will act as your guiding light throughout the process. 

For example: 

What impact does pollution have on children’s lung function in inner-city neighborhoods? 

Why is pollution-based asthma on the rise? 

How can we address pollution-induced asthma in young children? 

• 77 medical research topics worth exploring in 2023

Need some research inspiration for your upcoming paper or clinical study? We’ve compiled a list of 77 topical and in-demand medical research ideas. Let’s take a look. 

• Exciting new medical research topics

If you want to study cutting-edge topics, here are some exciting options:

COVID-19 and long COVID symptoms

Since 2020, COVID-19 has been a hot-button topic in medicine, along with the long-term symptoms in those with a history of COVID-19. 

Examples of COVID-19-related research topics worth exploring include:

The long-term impact of COVID-19 on cardiac and respiratory health

COVID-19 vaccination rates

The evolution of COVID-19 symptoms over time

New variants and strains of the COVID-19 virus

Changes in social behavior and public health regulations amid COVID-19

Vaccinations

Finding ways to cure or reduce the disease burden of chronic infectious diseases is a crucial research area. Vaccination is a powerful option and a great topic to research. 

Examples of vaccination-related research topics include:

mRNA vaccines for viral infections

Biomaterial vaccination capabilities

Vaccination rates based on location, ethnicity, or age

Public opinion about vaccination safety 

Artificial tissues fabrication

With the need for donor organs increasing, finding ways to fabricate artificial bioactive tissues (and possibly organs) is a popular research area. 

Examples of artificial tissue-related research topics you can study include:

The viability of artificially printed tissues

Tissue substrate and building block material studies

The ethics and efficacy of artificial tissue creation

• Medical research topics for medical students

For many medical students, research is a big driver for entering healthcare. If you’re a medical student looking for a research topic, here are some great ideas to work from:

Sleep disorders

Poor sleep quality is a growing problem, and it can significantly impact a person’s overall health. 

Examples of sleep disorder-related research topics include:

How stress affects sleep quality

The prevalence and impact of insomnia on patients with mental health conditions

Possible triggers for sleep disorder development

The impact of poor sleep quality on psychological and physical health

How melatonin supplements impact sleep quality

Alzheimer’s and dementia 

Cognitive conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise worldwide. They currently have no cure. As a result, research about these topics is in high demand. 

Examples of dementia-related research topics you could explore include:

The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in a chosen population

Early onset symptoms of dementia

Possible triggers or causes of cognitive decline with age

Treatment options for dementia-like conditions

The mental and physical burden of caregiving for patients with dementia

• Lifestyle habits and public health

Modern lifestyles have profoundly impacted the average person’s daily habits, and plenty of interesting topics explore its effects. 

Examples of lifestyle and public health-related research topics include:

The nutritional intake of college students

The impact of chronic work stress on overall health

The rise of upper back and neck pain from laptop use

Prevalence and cause of repetitive strain injuries (RSI)

• Controversial medical research paper topics

Medical research is a hotbed of controversial topics, content, and areas of study. 

If you want to explore a more niche (and attention-grabbing) concept, here are some controversial medical research topics worth looking into:

The benefits and risks of medical cannabis

Depending on where you live, the legalization and use of cannabis for medical conditions is controversial for the general public and healthcare providers.

Examples of medical cannabis-related research topics that might grab your attention include:

The legalization process of medical cannabis

The impact of cannabis use on developmental milestones in youth users

Cannabis and mental health diagnoses

CBD’s impact on chronic pain

Prevalence of cannabis use in young people

The impact of maternal cannabis use on fetal development 

Understanding how THC impacts cognitive function

Human genetics

The Human Genome Project identified, mapped, and sequenced all human DNA genes. Its completion in 2003 opened up a world of exciting and controversial studies in human genetics.

Examples of human genetics-related research topics worth delving into include:

Medical genetics and the incidence of genetic-based health disorders

Behavioral genetics differences between identical twins

Genetic risk factors for neurodegenerative disorders

Machine learning technologies for genetic research

Sexual health studies

Human sexuality and sexual health are important (yet often stigmatized) medical topics that need new research and analysis.

As a diverse field ranging from sexual orientation studies to sexual pathophysiology, examples of sexual health-related research topics include:

The incidence of sexually transmitted infections within a chosen population

Mental health conditions within the LGBTQIA+ community

The impact of untreated sexually transmitted infections

Access to safe sex resources (condoms, dental dams, etc.) in rural areas

• Health and wellness research topics

Human wellness and health are trendy topics in modern medicine as more people are interested in finding natural ways to live healthier lifestyles. 

If this field of study interests you, here are some big topics in the wellness space:

Gluten sensitivity

Gluten allergies and intolerances have risen over the past few decades. If you’re interested in exploring this topic, your options range in severity from mild gastrointestinal symptoms to full-blown anaphylaxis. 

Some examples of gluten sensitivity-related research topics include:

The pathophysiology and incidence of Celiac disease

Early onset symptoms of gluten intolerance

The prevalence of gluten allergies within a set population

Gluten allergies and the incidence of other gastrointestinal health conditions

Pollution and lung health

Living in large urban cities means regular exposure to high levels of pollutants. 

As more people become interested in protecting their lung health, examples of impactful lung health and pollution-related research topics include:

The extent of pollution in densely packed urban areas

The prevalence of pollution-based asthma in a set population

Lung capacity and function in young people

The benefits and risks of steroid therapy for asthma

Pollution risks based on geographical location

Plant-based diets

Plant-based diets like vegan and paleo diets are emerging trends in healthcare due to their limited supporting research. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the potential benefits or risks of holistic, diet-based medicine, examples of plant-based diet research topics to explore include:

Vegan and plant-based diets as part of disease management

Potential risks and benefits of specific plant-based diets

Plant-based diets and their impact on body mass index

The effect of diet and lifestyle on chronic disease management

Health supplements

Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. Many health-conscious people take supplements, including vitamins, minerals, herbal medicine, and more. 

Examples of health supplement-related research topics worth investigating include:

Omega-3 fish oil safety and efficacy for cardiac patients

The benefits and risks of regular vitamin D supplementation

Health supplementation regulation and product quality

The impact of social influencer marketing on consumer supplement practices

Analyzing added ingredients in protein powders

• Healthcare research topics

Working within the healthcare industry means you have insider knowledge and opportunity. Maybe you’d like to research the overall system, administration, and inherent biases that disrupt access to quality care. 

While these topics are essential to explore, it is important to note that these studies usually require approval and oversight from an Institutional Review Board (IRB). This ensures the study is ethical and does not harm any subjects. 

For this reason, the IRB sets protocols that require additional planning, so consider this when mapping out your study’s timeline. 

Here are some examples of trending healthcare research areas worth pursuing:

The pros and cons of electronic health records

The rise of electronic healthcare charting and records has forever changed how medical professionals and patients interact with their health data. 

Examples of electronic health record-related research topics include:

The number of medication errors reported during a software switch

Nurse sentiment analysis of electronic charting practices

Ethical and legal studies into encrypting and storing personal health data

Inequities within healthcare access

Many barriers inhibit people from accessing the quality medical care they need. These issues result in health disparities and injustices. 

Examples of research topics about health inequities include:

The impact of social determinants of health in a set population

Early and late-stage cancer stage diagnosis in urban vs. rural populations

Affordability of life-saving medications

Health insurance limitations and their impact on overall health

Diagnostic and treatment rates across ethnicities

People who belong to an ethnic minority are more likely to experience barriers and restrictions when trying to receive quality medical care. This is due to systemic healthcare racism and bias. 

As a result, diagnostic and treatment rates in minority populations are a hot-button field of research. Examples of ethnicity-based research topics include:

Cancer biopsy rates in BIPOC women

The prevalence of diabetes in Indigenous communities

Access inequalities in women’s health preventative screenings

The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension in Black populations

• Pharmaceutical research topics

Large pharmaceutical companies are incredibly interested in investing in research to learn more about potential cures and treatments for diseases. 

If you’re interested in building a career in pharmaceutical research, here are a few examples of in-demand research topics:

Cancer treatment options

Clinical research is in high demand as pharmaceutical companies explore novel cancer treatment options outside of chemotherapy and radiation. 

Examples of cancer treatment-related research topics include:

Stem cell therapy for cancer

Oncogenic gene dysregulation and its impact on disease

Cancer-causing viral agents and their risks

Treatment efficacy based on early vs. late-stage cancer diagnosis

Cancer vaccines and targeted therapies

Immunotherapy for cancer

Pain medication alternatives

Historically, opioid medications were the primary treatment for short- and long-term pain. But, with the opioid epidemic getting worse, the need for alternative pain medications has never been more urgent. 

Examples of pain medication-related research topics include:

Opioid withdrawal symptoms and risks

Early signs of pain medication misuse

Anti-inflammatory medications for pain control

• Identify trends in your medical research with Dovetail

Are you interested in contributing life-changing research? Today’s medical research is part of the future of clinical patient care. 

After you choose the right topic for your study, make data collection and trend identification more effortless than ever with Dovetail. 

As your go-to resource for speedy and accurate data analysis, we are proud to partner with healthcare researchers to innovate and improve the future of healthcare.

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243 amazing humanities topics for research.

Humanities is an academic discipline that deals with studying the different aspects of culture and human society. This field has a rich historical background that distinguishes it from other empirical approaches to the natural sciences.

The different fields in humanities include archaeology, classics, philosophy, religion, linguistics, and languages. You will encounter methods such as hermeneutics and source criticism in the course of your study. It is crucial to understand that scholars in humanities significant to questions rather than answers.

What Are Humanities Topics?

These are topics that major in interpreting the known facts and look at them from a fresh perspective. Unlike sciences and other fields, there are no restrictive rules – you can create them in the form of art.

Humanities topics involve the study of human society and social relationships. Such titles are analytical and deal with the philosophical questions of what makes us human. Since they trace their origin from ancient Greece, these topics take a more historical turn.

When coming up with humanities topics, it is essential to consider the following:

• They should be practical
• They should impact society as a whole
• Should relate the historical and current perspectives

Humanities students have the rare opportunity of understanding ancient and modern events that shape human life. You can learn all things from the romantic era’s poetry to the rise and fall of empires in the 15th century. It thus widens your understanding of the historical perspectives of almost every aspect of life.

In humanities topics, college students get strengthened in their research, writing, and critical thinking skills. But what are the best topics in humanities that you can present and score an A+?

Look at the topics below for inspiration.

Best-Rated Anthropology Humanities Paper Topics

• How different aspects of the social sciences relate with humanities and human biology.
• Reproducible and verifiable experiments in human anthropology
• Local traditions that shape the structure and functioning of human life
• Scientific methods to understand social phenomena in the society
• Why do humanities use nuanced descriptions rather than general laws?
• A critical look at the different branches of anthropology
• Factors that inhibit the study of anthropological linguistics
• Why cultural anthropology receives a cold shoulder among most undergraduate students
• Describe a case study that properly illustrates sociocultural anthropology
• Why is it difficult to provide a holistic account of humans and human nature?
• Why do anthropologists only specialize in one sub-field?
• Explain the importance of the biological, linguistic, historical, and cultural aspects of any problem.
• Describe the impact of anthropology arising as a science in Western societies
• Major industrial trends associated with anthropology research
• Effectiveness of methodological drives in studying peoples in communities with more simple social organization
• Why non-western cultures are least accepted in most countries?
• The quest for holism in the study of humanities
• How to use the biogenetic, archaeological, and linguistic data in humanities

Professional Topics For Humanities Classes

• Factors affecting the proper record keeping of archaeological data
• The role of architecture, biofacts, and Eco facts in human archaeology
• Using culture history to reconstruct past lifeways in ancient culture
• Explain the various changes in human societies through time.
• Describe the origin of humanities in the Classical Greek
• How the general education dating from the Sophists in the mid-5th century influenced humanities
• The role of early Middle Ages Church Fathers in humanities
• Describe the role of 15th-century Italian humanists to denote secular literary
• How ancient Greek and Latin studies have helped advance research in humanities
• The impact of the separation of humanities from the realm of the divine
• Methods of the maturing physical sciences in the scholarly arena
• Discuss the contemporary conceptions concerning the study of humanities
• Conduct a complete analysis of the humanities curriculum in the U.S.A.
• How to propagate a self-sufficient system of human values in the society
• How to distinguish the humanities from the social sciences

High-Quality Topics For Humanities Research Papers

• How different countries vary in the way of their social interactions
• What is the impact of breaking down humanities into other majors?
• Global political and economic issues affecting the study of humanities
• Using sociology to draw a complete picture of how the world works
• How to reinvent the best ideas from the past occurrences effectively
• The role of critical thinking and effective communication in humanities
• Which set of abilities should students have for humanities?
• Discuss the factors that affect the behavior of individuals and society
• Why are humanities papers on marriage among the most relevant nowadays?
• Is it true that focusing on the family is vital for one’s self-development?
• Discuss the notion of different societies concerning aging
• Why is the world still struggling with the problem of inequality to date?
• Factors affecting changes in social interactions among communities
• The role of social media in shaping the perspectives of different people
• Evaluate the factors affecting teenagers in the 21st century

Impressive Topics For Humanities Research Paper

• Discuss the impact of various social movements in advocating for change
• Why is child abuse still a pertinent issue in the 21st century?
• The role of social backgrounds in contributing to conflicts at workplaces
• What is the main challenge facing racial movements?
• An analysis of the reaction of people towards social policies
• Elaborate on the trends and impacts of irresponsible teenage behavior in the society
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of early marriages
• Why should parents not restrict their children from accessing the internet?
• Analyze the different class systems and their impact on associations
• What is the primary cause of criminal organizations in different societies?
• A case study of cliques among high school and college students
• The risk of delaying early childhood education among children in the U.S.A.
• Discuss the various clashes between different social classes in the world
• What is the place of the marginalized in society?
• Discuss the impact of the Me Too movement on the girl-child

Hot Humanities Research Topics

• What are the leading causes of drinking among a majority of the population?
• Discuss the various means of dealing with institutional crisis
• The role of capitalism and communism in the study of humanities
• What are the impacts of immigration into the U.S. from Mexico?
• The role of gender in determining leadership positions in the society
• Theoretical foundations of humanities in different institutions
• Discuss the significant differences between sects and cults
• Elaborate on the impact of the myths and misconceptions about coronavirus
• The role of poverty in facilitating violence and civil unrest
• Is cultural segmentation a good thing?
• The effect of technology on preserving historical facts
• Why social theories are essential in the field of humanities
• Discuss the origin of the discrimination against African-Americans
• An overview of the effects of cultural assimilation
• Is it possible to eliminate healthcare disparities among the LGBT community?

Interesting Humanities Topics

• Discuss the role of video games in advancing violence in societies
• Why fashion is becoming a distraction for many in the society
• Discuss why the topic of abortion is a live wire in most societies
• A case study of mass media and fear during terrorism attacks
• Discuss the social role of mass media in communities
• Why has online dating distorted the necessity of marriages?
• Discuss the evolution of lifestyles from the 15th century to date
• The part of body images in appealing to emotions
• Why are most college students victims of poor time management?
• The effects of the social, cultural engagements in the development of societies
• Discuss the political aspects that relate to social interactions
• Why are primarily teenagers and youths defiant to their parents?
• Why people from different nationalities differ from each other
• Why can’t the millennial live without updates of any event?
• Social issues affecting students in colleges and universities

Latest Humanities Project Ideas

• Discuss the different branches of humanities concerned with creative audio-visual pursuits
• Conduct an in-depth analysis of the human communication and behavior
• Critically examine the role of the justice system in advancing equality
• Current issues facing societies about the coronavirus prevention protocols
• The part of statistical data relating to population
• Explore the environmental foundations necessary for humanities
• Look at the gender divide in society and how to address it
• Discuss the cultural construct of the masculine and feminine identity
• Explore the field of Geography and its relationship to humanities
• How people interact with different physical features
• What are the challenges when it comes to relations between nations?
• Examine why language is essential for any society to thrive
• The role of multi-cultural and regional dimensions to humanities
• Why the study of beliefs, histories, values, and geographic backgrounds is necessary
• A systematic review of the issues affecting rational arguments

Top-Tier Humanities Topics Ideas

• Examine the role of religion and mythology in the study of humanities
• Why is pop music gaining acceptance among the general population?
• Investigate the relationship between society and social relationships
• Explore how the politics and government of the United States has evolved over the ages
• Study the implications of studying philosophy to the growth of a society
• Dive into the impact of peer-reviewed humanities papers
• The role of diversity in making the world a better place
• The importance of intersectionality and discrimination in any society
• Why differences can also advance peace and harmony
• Discuss the social relations between Islam and Christians
• Evaluate the process that led to the unification of Germany
• How did the Vietnam War affect the relationships of different countries?
• Outline the impacts of the great migration
• Impact of the Women’s Suffrage movements in championing for female rights
• How did the Ottoman Empire contribute to socialization?

World-Class Topics in Humanities

• Discuss the conflict between religion and social order
• What is the best disciplinary action for employees’ misconduct outside work
• The role of sales tax on internet purchases
• Why it is essential to understand the history of Europe in understanding humanities
• Why are human beings anatomically similar?
• The part of Greek and Latin texts and language in the study of humanities
• Why are the classical-era scholars in important in humanities?
• Discuss the role of humanities in institutions of higher learning
• Why do humanities and liberal studies make up the bulk of specialization for college students
• Give a substantive analysis of the renaissance-era humanists
• The place of a balanced curriculum in fostering critical humanist skills
• How humanities help students achieve analytical and problem-solving skills
• Why do most universities require multiple humanities courses?
• Discuss the events that led to the French revolution
• The implications of William Shakespeare’s plays

Medical Humanities Research Topics

• Discuss the ethical and humanistic dimensions of medicine
• Analyze the impact of various medical and technological advances
• The growing interest of researchers in the field of neuro-ethics
• Discuss the relationship between medicine and humanities
• How has the history of medicine varied with that of the humanities sector?
• Critical issues of healthcare access and public health policy
• What are the factors facing doctor-patient relationships?
• Discuss how to deal with end-of-life issues in medicine
• How does the media impact the study and progress of medicine?
• Analyze the relationship between medicine and society
• Who are the most significant scholars in medical anthropology?
• A critical analysis of empathy and experience of illness
• Choices available for doctors in the neonatal intensive care unit
• How the issues of limited resources impact access to medical care
• Analyze the ethics of medical advances

Good Research Topics For Humanities

• Informed consent issues for the matter of terminal diseases
• Why is humanities a rich interdisciplinary concentration?
• The vital importance of diversity in any society
• The state of empathy and sympathy during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Explore the different aspects of poetry
• Is it practical for anyone to work late in the night?
• How modern literature writers find meaning and inspiration in the works
• Ethical issues involved in the dialysis of the obese, homeless, and diabetic
• Why motivational interviewing was preferred for patients with diabetes?
• Discuss the effects of stigma among leaders
• The role of technology in reshaping the future of social interactions
• An innovative approach on the psychological aspects students
• Discuss the essentials of a practical counseling session
• Why do there exist disparities between the likeness of children to their parents
• The effects of becoming a counseling psychologist

Unique Topics For Humanities Research Paper

• Personal and professional reflections on the 9/11
• How parents can handle children with disabilities
• The impact of social media on the freedom of speech: A case of Facebook
• The role of the international criminal court in maintains world law and order.
• Analyze the economic context of a novel
• Emergent property and consciousness in the study of philosophy
• Discuss the effectiveness of the theories of punishment
• Are we likely to experience a third and fourth wave of feminism?
• What are the factors that are likely to cause philosophical anarchism?
• Discuss the growth and spread of Pentecostalism in Latin America
• Evaluate the impact of the Great Awakenings in the U.S. history
• Conduct an overview of the Shia minorities in the Middle East
• What are the social and cultural implications of the Religious Freedom Act?
• Do atheists honestly believe that there is no God?
• How to foster relationships among the Catholics and Evangelicals

College Humanities Essay Topics

• The necessity of teaching children the gender issues
• What is the origin of the discussions for and against gay marriages?
• Is it correct to say that everyone is a stereotype by default?
• An overview of the international marriages and globalism
• The impact of spending more time on social networking sites
• The role of social norms and cultures in a given society
• Why do most people experience challenges shifting from one culture to another?
• Discuss the relationship between a class and a student’s performance
• Are unconventional families essential for the growth and development of any child?
• Why do most students prefer foreign education over any other?
• Discuss the concept of the right to privacy
• Why do some studies need to engage in patriotism students?
• The role of economic prosperity in influencing patriotism
• Discuss the relationship between social media and addiction
• A case study of WhatsApp as the best social media group in the U.S.A.

Topics in Digital Humanities

• Discuss the various tools and methods for nineteenth-century American literature
• Understanding how the media is involved in human interactions
• Why digital communications technologies are the new norm
• Analyze the nature and extent of the digital revolution
• The history of computing in the humanities
• A humanistic critique of the computational methods
• Why most practitioners are opting for digital communication
• The role of the computer as a continual tool of innovation
• The process of using and building digital projects
• Incorporating digital technologies in archiving archaeological data
• Discuss the connection between traditional and digital textual scholarship
• Large-scale digital literary analysis
• Explore the potential of the digital academic data
• The broader context of the digital humanities
• How to computationally research and teach in humanities

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• Analysis of the macroscopic trends in cultural change
• A textual analysis of digital archives
• Why is there a lack of focus in pedagogy?
• Issues of access to information in the society
• Impact of online publishing in humanities
• Cultural analytic tools necessary for humanities
• The role of doctors in assisted suicide
• What should administrators do to campus violence perpetrators?
• The ethical downside of capital punishment
• Who should determine the legal drinking age?
• Why is modesty too hard to achieve nowadays?
• The life of prisons and prisoners
• Why doping in sports is still prevalent
• Discuss the limitations of college admission policies
• The role of education and funding

Humanities And Arts Research Topics

• Home-schooling
• Literacy levels in America
• The role of prayer in schools
• Programming and advertising
• The portrayal of women by media
• Physical attention techniques
• Affirmative action programs in the U.S.A.
• What is the way forward on gambling?
• Race relations
• Learning disabilities
• Family values
• Intelligence tests
• Distant learning
• White-collar jobs
• Morals and values

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Published on 26.3.2024 in Vol 26 (2024)

Youth is Prized in Medicine, Old Age is Valued in Law: Analysis of Media Narratives Over 200 Years

Authors of this article:

Original Paper

• Reuben Ng 1, 2 , PhD   ; 
• Nicole Indran 1 , BSocSci (Hons)  

1 Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

2 Lloyd’s Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Corresponding Author:

Reuben Ng, PhD

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

National University of Singapore

469C Bukit Timah Road

Singapore, 259772

Phone: 65 66013967

Email: [email protected]

Background: This is the first study to explore how age has influenced depictions of doctors and lawyers in the media over the course of 210 years, from 1810 to 2019. The media represents a significant platform for examining age stereotypes and possesses tremendous power to shape public opinion. Insights could be used to improve depictions of older professionals in the media.

Objective: This study aims to understand how age shapes the portrayals of doctors and lawyers. Specifically, it compares the difference in sentiments toward younger and older doctors as well as younger and older lawyers in the media over 210 years.

Methods: Leveraging a 600-million-word corpus of American media publications spanning 210 years, we compiled top descriptors (N=478,452) of nouns related to youth × occupation (eg, younger doctor or physician) and old age × occupation (eg, older lawyer or attorney). These descriptors were selected using well-established criteria including co-occurrence frequency and context relevance, and were rated on a Likert scale from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). Sentiment scores were generated for “doctor/physician,” “young(er) doctor/physician,” “old(er) doctor/physician,” “lawyer/attorney,” “young(er) lawyer/attorney,” and “old(er) lawyer/attorney.” The scores were calculated per decade for 21 decades from 1810 to 2019. Topic modeling was conducted on the descriptors of each occupation in both the 1800s and 1900s using latent Dirichlet allocation.

Results: As hypothesized, the media placed a premium on youth in the medical profession, with portrayals of younger doctors becoming 10% more positive over 210 years, and those of older doctors becoming 1.4% more negative. Meanwhile, a premium was placed on old age in law. Positive portrayals of older lawyers increased by 22.6% over time, while those of younger lawyers experienced a 4.3% decrease. In the 1800s, narratives on younger doctors revolved around their participation in rural health care. In the 1900s, the focus shifted to their mastery of new medical technologies. There was no marked change in narratives surrounding older doctors from the 1800s to the 1900s, though less attention was paid to their skills in the 1900s. Narratives on younger lawyers in the 1800s referenced their limited experience. In the 1900s, there was more focus on courtroom affairs. In both the 1800s and 1900s, narratives on older lawyers emphasized their prestige, especially in the 1900s.

Conclusions: Depending on the occupation, one’s age may either be seen as an asset or a liability. Efforts must be expended to ensure that older professionals are recognized for their wealth of knowledge and skills. Failing to capitalize on the merits of an older workforce could ultimately be a grave disservice not only to older adults but to society in general.

Introduction

Due to medical advances, older adults today are much healthier than before and make up a substantial portion of the labor market. The share of individuals aged 55 years and older either working or actively seeking employment has increased significantly since the 1990s, with approximately 37 million older Americans in the workforce as of March 2021 [ 1 ]. Never in history have older people been more integral to the workforce, and projections indicate a continuation of this trend [ 2 ]. Exploring how older workers have been portrayed in the media is essential for fostering a society that values its older population. In this study, we compare the portrayals of younger and older practitioners in the legal and medical spheres over the last 210 years.

The significance of our study lies in both conceptual and practical domains. From a conceptual standpoint, this study is one of the first to examine how portrayals of older workers in the media have changed over the span of 210 years. Existing research has looked only at how older adults in general are stereotyped in the media [ 3 ]. By analyzing the portrayals of older workers over such an extensive period, this study facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of how various social, cultural, or industry-related factors may have influenced these portrayals. This will in turn allow for better contextualization of current attitudes toward older workers. From a practical standpoint, insights from this study can inform interventions aimed at combating negative age stereotypes of older workers in the media.

The theory of social constructionism maintains that reality is neither objective nor fixed, but rather is constructed through social and cultural processes [ 4 ]. As a key agent for transmitting and disseminating information, the media plays a salient role in shaping the way reality is interpreted. According to the agenda-setting theory, the media molds public opinion by determining which issues are considered important and worthy of attention [ 5 , 6 ]. Similarly, cultivation theory posits that repeated exposure to certain messages in the media can alter people’s attitudes and beliefs over time [ 7 ]. Given the power of the media to influence the collective conscience, it is critical to inspect the ways older workers have been depicted in the media.

Several studies have looked at how older people are portrayed in the media. Ng et al [ 3 ] discovered that age stereotypes in the United States have become more negative over the last 2 centuries. Meanwhile, some have observed that depictions of older persons in visual media have become more positive in Europe and America since the 1950s [ 8 , 9 ]. To date, there is a paucity of literature on how different subgroups of older people are stereotyped in the media. The existing studies have focused primarily on the portrayal of grandparents [ 10 ], with little attention dedicated to the stereotypes of older workers.

Over the decades, scholars have endeavored to dissect the nature of age stereotypes. Although there is copious evidence of a general negative bias in societal perceptions of older adults [ 3 , 11 - 15 ], age stereotypes are widely accepted as being multifaceted [ 16 , 17 ]. Negative age stereotypes include being frail and unfriendly, while positive ones include being warm and amiable. Psychologists have argued that the stereotypes applied to a given target tend to shift across contexts as only contextually meaningful information will be used to evaluate the individual [ 18 , 19 ]. This contextual malleability of stereotypes renders it a scholarly imperative to pinpoint the various circumstances in which positive and negative age stereotypes emerge.

Presently, most studies pertaining to older workers focus on age discrimination as well as stereotypes in the workplace [ 20 , 21 ]. Positive stereotypes of older workers class them as warm, reliable, and committed to the job [ 22 , 23 ], while negative ones include being less flexible and adaptable [ 23 , 24 ]. Meanwhile, even as younger workers are highly regarded in terms of physical ability, productivity, and creativity [ 23 ], they are often branded as being inexperienced, unreliable, and unmotivated [ 25 ].

The ways in which older workers are represented in the media can affect the public’s attitudes toward old age and in turn the health of older persons. According to stereotype embodiment theory, the assimilation of age stereotypes into one’s self-concept can affect one’s health [ 26 ]. Negative age stereotypes are linked to poorer health outcomes such as a reduced sense of self-efficacy, a higher risk of depression as well as poorer immune or cardiovascular health [ 26 - 29 ]. Conversely, positive age stereotypes are associated with improved functional health, well-being, and longevity [ 26 , 28 , 29 ].

Research on how society evaluates older doctors is lacking. The few studies that have been carried out examined patients’ preferences regarding the age of their physicians [ 30 - 33 ]. Although older physicians are commonly deemed more patient and reassuring [ 30 , 31 ], some believe they are more susceptible to dispensing a lower quality of care than their younger colleagues [ 32 ]. A recent study found that patients cared for by older practitioners had higher mortality rates than those treated by younger ones [ 34 ]. In the legal sphere, minimal attention has been devoted to examining the ways in which older lawyers are stereotyped. That said, prior scholarship has hinted at both the opportunities and challenges posed by older attorneys. On one hand, there has been discourse on the need to leverage the skills of older attorneys, be it by allowing them to register for emeritus pro bono status [ 35 ] or by offering them opportunities to train younger attorneys [ 36 ]. On the other hand, there have been fears that older attorneys’ ability to continue their practice may be hampered by cognitive changes [ 35 ].

We test 2 hypotheses. First, to determine how age affects portrayals of doctors and lawyers in the media, we compare the difference in sentiments toward older and younger doctors, as well as older and younger lawyers. We hypothesize that the media will place a premium on youth in the medical profession where physical dexterity—a trait typically associated with younger people [ 37 ]—is prized across a range of specialties [ 38 , 39 ]. Specifically, we hypothesize that sentiments toward younger doctors will be more positive than toward older doctors over 21 decades in the media (hypothesis 1). Second, we hypothesize that the media will place a premium on old age in the legal profession due to its inherent association with experience—a quality of paramount importance in the legal domain [ 35 ]. Specifically, we hypothesize that sentiments toward older lawyers will be more positive than toward younger lawyers over the same period (hypothesis 2).

Following earlier work [ 10 , 40 - 42 ], we created the largest historical corpus—comprising 600 million words—of American media publications spanning 210 years (1810 to 2019) by merging the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) from 1810 to 2009 with the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) from 2010 to 2019 [ 43 ]. The combination of both corpora formed the largest structured historical English corpus with over 150,000 texts collected from newspapers, magazines, fiction, and nonfiction. Publications were extracted from major news outlets such as the New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and USA Today , as well as smaller ones like the Atlantic Journal Constitution and the San Francisco Chronicle . Material that was published at some point throughout the 210 years but that has ceased publication was included in the data set. The media represents a significant platform for examining age stereotypes as it possesses tremendous power to shape public opinion [ 4 - 6 ].

Target Nouns to Measure Occupation and Age × Occupation Stereotypes

The Harris Poll [ 44 ] listed doctors (physicians) and lawyers (attorneys) as some of the most respected professions. Prior studies have also found that doctors (physicians) and lawyers (attorneys) are seen as some of the most functionally significant occupations in society [ 45 ]. To ensure the relevance and applicability of our findings, the terms we selected for analysis are those frequently used in American media to describe professionals in the legal and medical fields. These terms are “doctor,” “physician,” “lawyer,” and “attorney.”

Old Age × Occupation

The descriptors or adjectives for the following terms were compiled: “old doctors,” “older doctors,” “old physicians,” “older physicians,” “old lawyers,” “older lawyers,” “old attorneys,” and “older attorneys.” We took into consideration the fact that older workers may be referred to by other adjectives such as “aging,” “elder,” “elderly,” and “aged.” However, we used “old” and “older” as they evidenced the highest prevalence in the data set.

Youth × Occupation

The descriptors or adjectives for the following terms were compiled: “young doctors,” “younger doctors,” “young physicians,” “younger physicians,” “young lawyers,” “younger lawyers,” “young attorneys,” and “younger attorneys.” Although younger workers may be referred to by other adjectives including “junior,” we used “young” and “younger” to exclude words describing workers of a lower status.

Selection of Descriptors and Sentiment Scoring

The top descriptors that co-occurred most frequently—referred to as “collocates”—with each term were compiled per decade for 210 years based on the following inclusion criteria: (1) The collocate was present within 6 words before or after the target word (lexical proximity). Articles such as “the” and “a” were not included in the 6-word lexical span. If the target noun was the first word of a sentence, collocates from the preceding sentence were excluded. (2) The collocate referred to an older or younger person specifically (relevant context). (3) There was a mutual information score of 1.5 and above, which suggests semantic bonding, meaning that the collocate has a stronger association with the particular synonym than other words in the corpus [ 46 ]. We use the following formula to calculate the mutual information score:

“A” indicates the possibility of the target word A appearing, which is calculated by the frequency of the target word. “B” indicates the possibility of the collocate B appearing, which is calculated by the frequency of word B. “C” indicates the possibility of “A” and “B” appearing together, which is calculated by the frequency of collocate B appearing near the target word A. “SizeCorpus” refers to the size of the corpus or the number of words. Span is the span of words, that is, if there are 6 words to the left and 6 words to the right of the target word, span=12; log (2)=0.30103. This is an application of concordance analysis called “psychomics”, which has been used in past literature to analyze societal stereotypes [ 10 , 47 - 50 ]. This rigorous process culminated in 478,452 collocates (descriptors or adjectives).

To test both hypotheses, each collocate was rated using a sentiment engine on a scale from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). This has proven to be a valid and reliable method of measuring words associated with age stereotypes [ 51 ] and follows previous corpus-based analyses [ 52 ]. Very negative collocates were rated 1 (eg, “frail” and “burden”), neutral collocates were rated 3 (eg, “transport” and “society”), and very positive collocates were rated 5 (eg, “venerable” and “cheerful”). For every noun per decade, we tabulated a mean score that was then weighted (by the number of times the respective noun appeared in that decade) to determine the respective sentiment score.

Analytic Strategy

Hypothesis 1 states that sentiments toward younger doctors in the media are more positive than toward older ones, while hypothesis 2 states that sentiments toward older lawyers in the media are more positive than toward younger lawyers. Both hypotheses were tested by analyzing the respective sentiment trends over 210 years (1810 to 2019) and thereafter determining whether the respective slopes were significantly different. Topic modeling was conducted on the descriptors of each occupation (eg, older doctor) in both the 1800s and 1900s using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) [ 53 ]. By probabilistically grouping words into topics, LDA identifies latent topics and clusters of words that co-occur frequently [ 53 ]. All data preprocessing, text analytics, and statistical analyses were done in Python 3.7 and OriginLab Corporation’s OriginPro 2019b (OriginLab Corporation).

Ethical Considerations

No ethical approval was sought for this study due to the publicly available and nonidentifiable nature of the data. Moreover, this study was exempted from ethics review as it involved a secondary analysis of publicly available material.

Youth Premium in Depictions of Doctors in the Media (Hypothesis 1)

We tested whether there was a youth premium in depictions of doctors in the media. As hypothesized, younger doctors or physicians evidenced more positive societal sentiments than older doctors or physicians over 21 decades from 1810 to 2019. Younger doctors enjoyed a 10% increase in positive portrayals over 210 years (β=0.01385, P =.04), while older doctors experienced a 1.4% decline in sentiments over the same period, though this trend was not statistically significant ( Figure 1 ). The difference across both slopes achieved statistical significance, F 1,36 =4.5602, P =.04, providing support for hypothesis 1.

Old Age Premium in Depictions of Lawyers in the Media (Hypothesis 2)

We tested whether there was a premium of old age in depictions of lawyers in the media. As hypothesized, older lawyers or attorneys evidenced more positive sentiments compared with younger lawyers or attorneys across 21 decades from 1810 to 2019. Older lawyers experienced a 22.6% increase in positive portrayals over 21 decades (β=0.0302, P =.02). Conversely, younger lawyers experienced a 4.3% decline in sentiments over the same period (β=–0.00673, P ≤.001). These results reflect an age premium for lawyers where older lawyers are portrayed more positively relative to younger ones ( Figure 2 ). The difference across both slopes reached statistical significance, F 1,34 =7.085, P =.01, supporting hypothesis 2.

Summary of Insights from Topic Modeling

Topics were generated for old age × occupation and youth × occupation framing in the 1800s and 1900s. In the 1800s, narratives on younger doctors revolved around their participation in rural health care. In the 1900s, the focus shifted to their mastery of new medical technologies. Unlike younger doctors, there was no marked change in narratives surrounding older doctors from the 1800s to 1900s, though less attention was paid to their skills in the 1900s. Narratives on younger lawyers in the 1800s described them as having limited experience. In the 1900s, there was more focus on courtroom affairs. In both the 1800s and 1900s, narratives on older lawyers emphasized their prestige. This emphasis was more apparent in the 1900s as their seniority and experience became increasingly valuable in navigating the growing complexity of court cases. These results are summarized in Table 1 .

Youth × Occupation Framing (Doctors or Physicians) in the 1800s

Topic 1 consists of terms pertaining to obtaining a “medical degree” (“college,” “degree,” and “professor”). Topic 2 touches on “interactions with patients” (“laugh,” “smile,” and “boy”). Collocates alluding to “religion and medicine” are in topic 3 (“reverend,” “pray,” and “advise”). Topic 4 is about “sickness and death in the hospital” (“sick,” “dead,” and “fever”) while topic 5 is about “diagnosis and prescription” (“prescribe,” “medicine,” and “care”). Topic 6 focuses on “rural healthcare” (“village,” “horse,” “ride,” and “inquire”).

Youth × Occupation Framing (Doctors or Physicians) in the 1900s

Collocates in topic 1 paint younger physicians as having up-to-date “medical knowledge” and being proficient in the use of newer medical technologies (“treatment,” “medical,” “informatics,” and “technology”). Those in topic 2 hint at how younger doctors dispense “high-quality care” (“better” and “care”). Topic 3 is about “sickness and death in the hospital” (“sick,” “disease,” “and “die”). Topic 4 dwells on “treatment and recovery” (“treatment,” “cure,” and “best”). Topic 5 looks at the “financial woes” confronted by some patients (“shoulder,” “worry,” “bill,” and “enough”) and topic 6 at “consultations and medical appointments” (“consult,” “advise,” “and “visit”).

Old Age × Occupation Framing (Doctors or Physicians) in the 1800s

Topic 1 describes the “skill and expertise” of older doctors (“skill” and “experience”). Topic 2 covers “visits to the hospital” (“visit,” “consult,” and “opinion”). Topic 3 makes reference to “religion and medicine” (“divinity,” “village,” and “medicine”) and topic 4 to “sickness and death in the hospital” (“die” and “trouble”).

Old Age × Occupation Framing (Doctors or Physicians) in the 1900s

Topic 1 deals with the wealth of “experience” of older doctors (“experience” and “practitioner”). Comparisons of doctors with “other occupations” (“lawyer,” “surgeon,” and “dentist”) are in topic 2. Topic 3 is about “diagnosis and prescription” (“prescription,” “drug,” and “diagnosis”) and topic 4 is about “sickness and death in the hospital” (“disease” and “dead”). Topic 5 pertains to “surgery” (“operation,” “perform,” and “abortion”). Topic 6 looks at “bedside manner” (“laugh” and “smile”) and topic 7 involves “royal visits” (“royal,” “visit,” and “news”).

Youth × Occupation Framing (Lawyers or Attorneys) in the 1800s

Words in topic 1 portray the legal profession as one of “prestige” (“eminent,” “distinguished,” and “prominent”). Those in topic 2 concern “law and religion” (“clergyman,” “judge,” and “divine”). Topic 3 features terms related to the “judicial district” (“judicial,” “district,” “jury,” and “statesman”) and topic 4 features terms related to “prosecution” (“prosecute” and “defend”). Collocates in topic 5 imply that younger attorneys have “limited experience” (“less,” “experience,” and “knowledge”).

Youth × Occupation Framing (Lawyers or Attorneys) in the 1900s

Topic 1 comprises terms related to “courtroom affairs” (“affairs,” “drama,” “judge,” and “court”). Topic 2 circles around issues regarding “trial and prosecution” (“plead,” “charge,” and “criminal”). Matters regarding “politics” dominate topic 3 (“republican,” “democratic,” and “senate”). Specific “lawsuits against politicians” are in topic 4 (“settlement,” “lawsuit, “allegation,” and “complaint”). Topic 5 focuses on “legal fees” (“legal,” “insurance,” “interest,” and “cost”) and topic 6 compares the legal profession to “other occupations” (“accountant,” “banker,” “doctor,” and “teacher”).

Old Age × Occupation Framing (Lawyers or Attorneys) in the 1800s

Topic 1 depicts older lawyers as having a certain level of “prestige” (“eminent” and “respectable”). Topic 2 revolves around “legal guidance” (“opinion” and “advice”). Topic 3 covers “prosecution” (“prosecute,” “evidence,” and “judge”) and topic 4 contains terms related to “legal fees” (“interest,” “dollar,” and “fee”).

Old Age × Occupation Framing (Lawyers or Attorneys) in the 1900s

The idea that older attorneys have more “seniority and experience” is in topic 1 (“senior,” “experience,” “successful,” and “complex”). Topic 2 discusses matters regarding “courtroom proceedings” (“judge,” “defendant,” and “trial”). Topic 3 is related to “legal guidance” (“hire” and “represent”). Topic 4 is about the “bar” (“association” and “conference”) and topic 5 is about “lawsuits against politicians” (“file,” “governor,” and “republican”). Topic 6 involves “family law” (“divorce,” “witness,” and “son”).

In this study, we compared how sentiments toward older and younger doctors and lawyers have changed in the media over the last 2 centuries. Findings reveal that media outlets have placed a premium on youth in the medical enterprise but on old age in the legal fraternity.

Narratives on younger doctors in the media are more positive than on older doctors. Additionally, while narratives on older doctors have become more negative, narratives on younger doctors are experiencing the reverse trend. One possible reason for these trends is the rise of new medical technologies and techniques that younger doctors are usually assumed to be more conversant with. Moreover, medical practitioners are said to be the most proficient in the years immediately after completing residency training. There is a common belief that doctors further from training may rely on out-of-date clinical evidence and not adhere as rigidly to evidence-based guidelines as younger doctors [ 33 ]. As seen in our LDA results, from the 1900s, the media began emphasizing the merits of younger physicians by highlighting their up-to-date medical knowledge. Although there were portrayals of older doctors as being skilled in the 1800s, this changed in the 1900s, during which more attention was dedicated to their experience and bedside manner. Thus, there may have been a subconscious association of youth with medical competence in the media.

Narratives on older lawyers in the media are more positive than those on younger lawyers. While narratives on older lawyers have become more positive, the trend is the opposite for younger lawyers. Younger attorneys may be seen as more enthusiastic and willing to learn, but they may also be viewed as lacking the expertise of their older and more seasoned counterparts. The increasing specialization of the legal profession over time [ 54 ] may have resulted in age becoming more highly valued in the field. Older attorneys may be seen as possessing a deeper understanding of legal precedents and a greater ability to navigate the complexities and intricacies of legal matters [ 35 ]. Our LDA results uncovered that since the 1900s, older lawyers have been depicted in the media as having a wealth of expertise, which may render them better able to provide valuable legal guidance to clients and colleagues alike.

The issue of youth-directed ageism is beyond the ambit of this study. Nevertheless, it cannot go unacknowledged that narratives on younger lawyers have become increasingly negative. Over the years, clarion calls have been sounded for bullying in the legal profession to end. In 2018, the International Bar Association surveyed 7000 lawyers from 135 countries on the topic of bullying and sexual harassment in the profession [ 55 ]. Results from the survey lent empirical support to claims about the rampancy of bullying and sexual harassment in the legal enterprise, which may not be particularly shocking in view of the adversarial, hierarchical, and hypercompetitive nature of the job [ 55 ]. Younger legal professionals were found to be disproportionately affected by bullying, and respondents from the United States reported higher rates of both bullying as well as sexual harassment than the global average [ 55 ]. This may account for the increase in negativity associated with narratives on younger attorneys.

In line with social constructionism [ 4 ], agenda-setting [ 5 , 6 ], and cultivation theories [ 7 ], the media is instrumental in shaping public perceptions of older adults. Depictions of younger physicians as being well acquainted with the newest medical technologies, though particularly important as they begin their medical careers, may come at the expense of older doctors. The public may be conditioned to view younger doctors as superior to older ones, which could consequently foment ageist stereotypes. The fact that depictions of older lawyers have grown more positive over time is heartening as it shows that older lawyers are being celebrated for their seniority and expertise.

The finding that an age premium exists in depictions of lawyers but not in depictions of doctors is interesting. It may be that the age of a physician is perceived as more important as work in the medical setting may have life-threatening consequences. Indeed, scholars have contended that older physicians’ waning physical skills may pose major surgical risks [ 38 , 39 ]. Such risks may be thought to outweigh the potential lessons to be imparted by older doctors. Physical dexterity has comparatively little—if any—bearing on whether one is able to perform one’s legal duties effectively, which may explain the differing results between portrayals of older doctors and lawyers.

This study yields some important insights. First, it is important that narratives on older adults in the media accurately mirror the contributions of older adults to society. More attention should be dedicated to the immense value they add to the workplace and economy in order that negative stereotypes are progressively removed from one’s cognitive repertoire. Just as the media has highlighted the strengths of older lawyers, it may be worthwhile to increase media coverage of the unique strengths of older doctors and what they can bring to patient care. Media campaigns could be held to promote positive images of older doctors. Such campaigns could feature interviews with these doctors, details of their achievements, and testimonials from patients who have received exceptional care from them. Additionally, media outlets could offer training programs for journalists to sensitize them to the issue of ageism and to equip them with guidelines on writing about older doctors tactfully. To avoid perpetuating ageist stereotypes and to promote better psychological well-being among older persons [ 26 ], it is crucial to ensure accurate depictions of older professionals in the media. As only a small fraction of older professionals are covered in the media, the few depictions that do exist hold significant influence in shaping public attitudes toward aging.

Second, our results indicate that depending on the occupation, old age may be deemed more valuable than youth. There is therefore a need to explore how the merits of old age—skill, knowledge, and experience—in these occupational contexts could be extended to the way the older population is viewed as a whole. To this end, it may be useful to encourage more interaction between older and younger people in the workplace. Age diversity may translate into advantages in both human and social capital [ 56 ] as knowledge is passed from young to old and old to young [ 57 ]. Relatedly, it is imperative that older persons are eased into the retirement phase and not tossed into it unceremoniously. Opportunities to continue contributing to the workplace—such as through mentorship programs—should be provided so as to harness the treasury of skills and knowledge of this cohort. This will also allow older persons to transition more seamlessly into the next phase of life.

This study has various limitations. First, we acknowledge that an emphasis on occupational roles may wind up perpetuating the notion that older people are to be valued only if they remain economically productive [ 58 ]. However, our findings reveal that old age may evoke positive stereotypes in certain occupational contexts, which has implications on how negative stereotypes of older adults can be eliminated. Second, as only 2 occupational roles were used for analysis, the differences in portrayals of older and younger workers in other occupational settings remain an uncharted area of research. Furthermore, the occupations considered in this study are generally considered to be prestigious. Future scholarship could examine whether old age is valued in the context of blue-collar occupations. Third, our search only included the 2 professions as umbrella terms without specifying the various specialties within each profession, such as cardiologists, ophthalmologists, criminal defense prosecutors, and tax attorneys. Thus, our study only lays out in broad strokes how older lawyers and doctors are depicted in the media. Future studies could address this limitation by delving into the various subcategories.

Fourth, the data set used in this study only comprises American sources. The meanings ascribed to age and to occupations are likely to differ across cultural contexts. For instance, the idea of the American dream may have had an impact on the portrayal of the legal profession since it could be tied closely to the notion of wealth and success. A study that investigates how portrayals of older doctors and lawyers vary across cultures may hence be worth pursuing. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that LDA may not account for the context in which the words are used, making it difficult to discern whether ageist portrayals are propagated by journalists or other sources. In addition, LDA may not detect nuances in language such as tone, sarcasm, and irony. Further research is therefore required to determine the generalizability of our findings. Other directions for future study include an analysis of how narratives pertaining to select occupations have unfolded since the 2000s. It is likely that topics related to artificial intelligence and automation will emerge in these narratives. Surveys [ 59 ], interviews [ 60 ], and big data analytics [ 61 , 62 ] could also be used to explore the types of stereotypes linked to professionals of different age groups.

Conclusions

In seeking to eradicate ageism, perhaps a pressing question is not so much whether this phenomenon exists, but rather in what situations it manifests itself and to what degree. This study has demonstrated that depending on the occupation, one’s age may either be seen as an asset or a liability. Moving forward, effort must be expended to ensure that older professionals are recognized for their wealth of knowledge and skills. Failing to capitalize on the merits of an aging workforce could ultimately be a grave disservice not only to older adults but to society in general.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to W. Yang for preprocessing the data. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Commonwealth Fund’s Harkness Fellowship in Heathcare Policy and Practice and the Social Science Research Council SSHR Fellowship (MOE2018-SSHR-004). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, writing, and decision to publish.

Data Availability

Data are publicly available at English-Corpora.org [ 63 ].

Authors' Contributions

RN designed the study, developed the methodology, analyzed the data, wrote the paper, and acquired the funding. NI cowrote the paper.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

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Abbreviations

Edited by T Leung, G Eysenbach; submitted 19.01.23; peer-reviewed by L Allen, G Myreteg; comments to author 27.02.23; revised version received 13.03.23; accepted 31.08.23; published 26.03.24.

©Reuben Ng, Nicole Indran. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 26.03.2024.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

220 Best Humanities Research Topics to Get Started

Table of Contents

Humanities is a broad academic discipline that deals with the various facets of culture and human society. It mainly involves the study of languages, philosophy, literature, religion, art, history, law, archaeology, and anthropology. If you are a humanities student, then as a part of your course, you will have to submit a research paper on any interesting topic related to the subject. In case, you are unsure what topic to choose for your humanities research paper, then check this blog post. For your convenience, here, we have presented a list of the great humanities research topics in various categories. Also, we have shared a few significant tips for selecting a good humanities research topic.

Without wasting your time, explore this blog post and get more ideas for humanities research paper writing.

Tips for Selecting a Good Humanities Research Topic

Before jumping into the humanities research topics list, first, let us take a look at how to select a good humanities research topic.

Usually, when it comes to research paper writing assignments, your professors will share some writing prompts for you to choose from. But, at certain times, they will allow you to select a topic on your own. In such a scenario, you may get confused about what topic to choose.

If you are given a chance to select the humanities research topic of your choice, follow the below-mentioned tips. It would help you identify an ideal humanities research topic.

• Pick a practical research topic.
• Choose a topic that belongs to your area of interest.
• Go with a topic that is related to both the current and historical perspectives.
• Give preference to the topic that is impactful to society.
• Never pick a topic with no or less research scope.
• Select a topic that is matching to the research methodology of your choice.
• Consider a topic that is interesting and informative to your readers.
• Choose a research topic that has extensive information and credible sources for reference.
• Select a topic that contains valid facts, evidence, or examples supporting your major points of discussion.

Besides all these steps, before finalizing your research topic, check whether the topic you have identified stands in line with the writing guidelines of your professor or university. Once you have chosen a perfect humanities research topic, start writing the research paper by using your writing skills, after conducting deep research.

List of the Best Humanities Research Topics

To write a humanities research paper, you can choose a topic from any discipline such as arts, religion, philosophy, medicine, etc.

Especially, to make your topic selection process simple and help you save time, below we have added a list of outstanding humanities research paper ideas on various categories. Go through the entire list carefully and pick any topic that is convenient for you to research and write about.

Basic Humanities Research Paper Topics

• Assess the best strategies for negotiations during wars.
• How do body image issues change with age?
• Does book reading make people more social?
• How does economic prosperity affect the feeling of patriotism?
• Explain the effects of gender-based violence on children’s personalities.
• Explain how social media affect America’s political decisions.
• What are the social changes in developed nations?
• Research the effectiveness of the UN in fostering global peace.
• Discuss the negative impacts of teen pregnancies.
• What is the role of America in Europe’s restoration after WWII?
• Discuss the role of artists in a time of war
• Application of the views of Socrates to western democracy in the 21 st Century
• Evaluation of Appalachian language and its academic power
• Critical analysis of the role of conflicts in violence
• Why building resilience is important for ensuring environmental sustainability?
• Perspective pathways to greater human flourishing
• Regional Identity and Appalachian Language
• The 18th Century Conventions of Feminism and Jane Austen
• How can the theories of Socrates be applied to 21st-century Western Democracy?
• Briefly discuss the historical tension between religion and science with examples

Excellent Humanities Project Ideas

• Compare human and animal sacrifice in religion.
• Are fast foods spoiling traditional food cultures?
• What are the pros and cons of studying gender issues in school?
• How photography is framing public opinion in the 21st century?
• Investigate the role of the justice system in advancing equality.
• Compare African socialism in the 1950 and 1970s.
• Discuss the environmental foundations necessary for humanities.
• Explain the pros and cons of studying humanities.
• Discuss how cultural stereotypes are developed by superstitions.
• Why is it hard to stop bullying in school?
• Research why language is essential for any society to thrive.
• What impact do graphic novels have on literacy?
• Assess human communication and behavior.
• How oral history has affected modern culture?
• How science fiction has invaded the mainstream culture around the world?
• How do intersectionality and gender bias affect inclusion and diversity in the workplace?
• Describe the current status of transgender and other sexual minority communities in Canada
• Discuss some common social justice issues across every country in the world
• Humanity is the best religion and the essence of human existence: Explain
• Impact of the feminism movement on society

Great Humanities Research Paper Topics

• Discuss the link between bureaucracy and the law-making process.
• Write about the executive power in the US.
• What are the ethical issues involved in media advertising?
• Explain the connection between Italian fashion and Chinese culture.
• Discuss the impact of dual nationality on political views.
• Analyze the effects of poverty in rural communities.
• How Twitter has transformed into a powerful political platform?
• Is capitalism the best system?
• What is the impact of the Neolithic revolution on people’s cognitive abilities?
• Discuss the effects of daily family routines on a child’s development.
• How to differentiate the humanities from the social sciences?
• Explain the role of capitalism and communism in the study of humanities.
• What are the global political and economic issues that affect the study of humanities?
• Discuss the effects of irresponsible teenage behavior in society.
• Discuss the pros and cons of early marriages.
• Analyze the humanities curriculum in the U.S.A.
• Write about the origin of humanities in Classical Greek.
• What are the factors that inhibit the study of anthropological linguistics?
• Explain the factors that modify the behavior of individuals and society.
• Explain the impact of the Me Too movement on the girl-child.

Captivating Humanities Research Topics

• What are the effects of Consumerism on sustainability?
• Write about the fashion trends in society.
• Research the social problems faced by people who are with disabilities.
• Why does cultural appropriation always result in political contests?
• Should poverty be treated as a social issue?
• What are the benefits of countercultures in society?
• How to prevent the fight for resources in families using the conflict theory?
• What is the role of the bible in the development of US democracy?
• Explain the major differences between interstate conflicts and wars.
• Using the critical race theory analyze the Black Lives Matter activist movement.
• Analyze the impact of different class systems on associations.
• What are the various clashes between different social classes in the world?
• Discuss the effect of various social movements in advocating for change.
• What is the ultimate cause of criminal organizations in different societies?
• Explain the effect of technology on preserving historical facts.
• Explore the reaction of people towards social policies.
• Discuss the differences between sects and cults.
• What is the impact of the separation of humanities from the realm of the divine?
• Discuss the role of critical thinking and effective communication in humanities.
• What is the role of early Middle Ages Church Fathers in humanities?

Humanities Research Topics in Philosophy

• Discuss election ethics.
• What are the main causes of war?
• Prepare a case study of Europe in the 20th century based on the application of socialism.
• Discuss the inference of learning philosophy for the growth of a society.
• Discuss the implications of scientific realism on judgment by scientists.
• How to eradicate corruption in society?
• Explore mind philosophy and problems with dualism.
• Discuss the main challenges involved in regulating the environment using laws.
• Are morals relative to society or culture?
• Using Aristotle’s perspectives define a perfect government.

Humanities and Arts Research Paper Topics

• How does art education make people think differently?
• Discuss the effect of music on modern culture and society.
• Explain the impact of the Cultural Revolution on Chinese art.
• Compare the themes in modern and traditional Caribbean music.
• What is water puppetry in Vietnamese tradition?
• Analyze the Mayan art and society.
• Explain the music and political propaganda in the 20th century.
• Compare the role of liberal arts education in the 20th and 21st centuries.
• What is the use of totem masks in Papua New Guinea art?
• Discuss the causes of the decline of art in medieval Europe.
• Explain how Japanese art influenced that country’s clothing.
• How the modern art is related to American suffering?
• What is the effect of the printing press on the wide-scale spread of art?
• What is the influence of ancient art on current artistic trends?
• Describe the ancient Greek and Roman motifs in modern architectural works.
• Discuss the effects of social media on digital art and the spread of ideas.
• Explain the K-pop music style and subculture.
• Explain the impact of mythology on the sculptures of Ancient Greece.
• Depict war in 20th-century art.
• Should advertisements be seen as a form of modern art?

Medical Humanities Research Topics

• Can exercise ruin a person’s health?
• Should a doctor be allowed to offer medical help against the desires of the guardian?
• Discuss the impact of various medical and technological advances.
• Explain how to deal with end-of-life issues in medicine.
• How are medical addictions portrayed in literature?
• Where the people with mental issues should be treated- in or outside their communities?
• Explain the history of abortion throughout the 20th century.
• What is the relationship between medicine and humanities?
• Examine the practice of medicine across different cultures.
• Is it ethical to use animals for testing drugs?
• Discuss the ethics of medical advances.
• Explain the medical practices in the field of battle.
• Discuss the criminal charges for medical malpractice throughout the 21st century.
• How do humanities affect the use of alternative medicines?
• Discuss the religious impact on the medical community.

Digital Humanities Research Paper Topics

• Why do social media make people feel lonely as opposed to connecting them?
• How to incorporate digital technologies in archiving archaeological data?
• Discuss the history of computing in the humanities.
• Explain the effect of Modern devices and technology on people’s relationships.
• Evaluate the nature and extent of the digital revolution.
• What are the effects of video games on violence in society?
• Have a closer look at humanities studies and the age of information technology.
• Discuss the history of the printing press and its role in spreading ideas.
• How do modern gadgets affect people’s mental health?
• Should we adopt a scientific approach to the problem of alcoholism?
• Does digital technology offer a better life?
• Explore the potential of digital academic data.
• Discuss the future of digital communication.
• Explain how data visualization tools are changing people’s opinions.
• Discuss the change in people’s jobs because of technological developments.

Humanities Research Topics on Religion

• Discuss the conflict between religion and social order.
• Compare the two most ancient religions in society.
• What is the role of religion in contemporary society?
• Explain the concept of reincarnation in different religions.
• What is the major reason for the emergence of new religions?
• What is the importance of the church in the well-being of society?
• Compare funeral rituals in two religions of your choice.
• Explain the difference between new and older religious movements.
• Discuss the positive changes that can be achieved through religious practices.
• Analyze the concept of Goddess and God in religion.
• Explain the similarities between religions around the world.
• What is the effect of sacrificial traditions in ancient religions on today’s society?
• Discuss female clergy in religions.
• What is the relationship between religion and science?
• Explain the role of religion and mythology in the study of humanities.

Amazing Humanities Research Ideas

• What are the effects of cultural assimilation?
• Explain why the topic of abortion is a live wire in most societies.
• What is the role of poverty in facilitating violence and civil unrest?
• Why has online dating twisted the necessity of marriage?
• Why is pop music gaining acceptance among the general population?
• Is cultural segmentation a good thing?
• Prepare a case study of mass media and fear during terrorist attacks.
• How to handle the institutional crisis?
• Why social theories are significant in the field of humanities?
• What is the role of gender in determining leadership positions in society?
• Explain the social issues that affect students in colleges and universities.
• Analyze the effects of the great migration.
• Why are primarily teenagers and youths resistant to their parents?
• Explain the consequences of intersectionality and discrimination in any society.
• Compare pop music and classical music

Read more: Great Human Rights Topics For Writing Academic Papers

Outstanding Humanities Research Topics

• Write about Western humanities in the 21 st
• Discuss symbolism in television sci-fi shows.
• Explain the evolution of socialist movements throughout the world.
• Write about humanities in the computer age and mass information.
• How does online publishing affect humanities?
• Describe the Bible’s representation of humanities and culture.
• Write about community volunteer programs and their impact on youths.
• Discuss the influence of science on humanities over the centuries.
• Present the different definitions of freedom from around the world.
• Why the tools for cultural analysis are essential for humanities?
• Alternative dispute resolution mechanism for the settlement of environmental disputes in Nigeria: A Study of Ojodu Community, Lagos State
• Describe the scarily lucrative business model of human trafficking
• Technical Change And Productivity in the Manufacturing Industry in Imo State of Nigeria
• How the military force of a nation can promote human security in conflict situations?
• Analyze the governance and service delivery of the local government in the Kiruhura District of Uganda

Top-rated Humanities Dissertation Topics

• What are the challenges faced by adult graduates with learning technologies?
• Explain the impact of the internet on the emotional maturity of the students.
• How do the qualities of family life affect parent-child relationships?
• Assess the link between classroom quality and learning results in kindergarten.
• Is creativity a type of fantasy?
• What are the major causes of the Cold War?
• Discuss the effect of adoption on parent-child relationships.
• Investigate how racism affects a family unit.
• What are the political and social implications of design?
• Explain the future of humanity in an extraterrestrial world.
• Examining the most effective tactics for wartime negotiations: Utilize three 20th-century example studies.
• When should kids start receiving sex education?
• Offspring of multinational marriages facing identification challenges.
• Who is responsible for defending human rights on a global scale? A study of the International Criminal Court’s efficacy.
• The major reason for misunderstandings in social media communication is a lack of face-to-face encounters.

Read more: Interesting Dissertation Topics to Consider for Academic Writing

Informative Humanities Research Ideas

• Answering the challenging inquiries What is the main reason for the conflicts between Israel and Palestine? Can it or it be dealt with?
• How Twitter has become a potent political tool.
• Do gender and spirituality go together?
• Should the United States be held accountable for the severe harm that its use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused to Japan?
• Should social media use be controlled to lessen the risk of addiction and other adverse effects?
• Discuss the role played by NGOs and free-of-cost education service delivery organizations to develop underdeveloped nations
• Participation motives and competitive orientation of football players in the Kenyan Women’s Premier League
• Analyze the central idea of marriage in African Religio-Culture with reference to the Maasai of Kajiado County, Kenya
• Critical analysis of women’s political participation: a case of Bomachoge constituency in Kenya (1963-2013)
• Association between paternal illicit drug and alcohol consumption, complementary feeding and children’s nutrition status

Awesome Humanities Research Topics

• A critical look at the different branches of anthropology
• Explain the various changes in human societies through time.
• How to propagate a self-sufficient system of human values in the society
• What is the impact of breaking down humanities into other majors?
• Discuss the notion of different societies concerning aging
• Elaborate on the impact of the myths and misconceptions about coronavirus
• Discuss the political aspects that relate to social interactions
• Explore the field of Geography and its relationship to humanities
• A systematic review of the issues affecting rational arguments
• Evaluate the process that led to the unification of Germany

Final Words

Out of the different ideas suggested in this blog, select any topic of your choice and draft a brilliant humanities research paper. In case, you need help with humanities research paper topic selection and writing, get in touch with us immediately. We have numerous subject experts on our platform to offer you high-quality humanities assignment help online. Mainly, in accordance with the requirements you share with us, our humanities assignment helpers will prepare and deliver a plagiarism-free research paper prior to the submission date and will also help you in fetching top grades.

So, without any hesitation, place your order and enjoy the benefits of our humanities research paper help service at a reasonable cost.

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Jacob Smith

I am an Academic Writer and have affection to share my knowledge through posts’. I do not feel tiredness while research and analyzing the things. Sometime, I write down hundred of research topics as per the students requirements. I want to share solution oriented content to the students.

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30+ Medical Argumentative Essay Topics for College Students

by  Antony W

April 21, 2023

Medical argumentative essay topics give you some brilliant ideas that you can explore and defend depending on the research you’ve conducted.

As with any argumentative essay topic ,  a medical related essay also requires you to take a stance and use objective, verifiable, and reasonable evidence to defend your position.

However, the kinds of topics many students pick to explore in the medical field are often quite too common.

Think of type II diabetes, cardiovascular illness, breast cancer, and cirrhosis. These are topics you don’t want to cover for the simple reason that they are too common.

In this post, we give you a list of 30+ medical argumentative essay topics that aren’t too obvious.

These topic ideas should enable you to add a new spin to your work, so that you can write a medical essay that focuses on an issue that will capture the attention of your audience (reader) almost instantly.

30+ Medical Argumentative Essay Topics  

Below is a list of 30+ essay topics that you may find interesting for your medical argumentative essay assignment :

Controversial Medical Argumentative Essay Topics 

• The cost of healthcare in the United States of America is not justifiable
• Do homeless people deserve free healthcare simply because they don’t have money to pay medical bills?
• Unconventional medication should not be part of a state’s healthcare system
• There’s a strong link between poor health and poverty
• People should not turn to homeopathy because it isn’t more effective compared to seeking medical advice
• People with no health insurance cover deserve to get equal treatment at medical healthcare facilities
• Should the government take action against unexpected errors in medical settings?
• Doctors should not have the right to endorse medical products until verified for safety and effectiveness
• Healthcare institutions should provide opt-out and opt-in donor system
• There’s no true justification for the rising cost of healthcare in the United States of America

In theory, areas such as genetic engineering, diagnostics, and medical research can be interesting to explore within the medical field.

However, the assignment requires hours of intensive research, proper structuring, writing, and editing.

If you don’t have the time for all that, you can get argumentative assignment help from one of our team of writers.

Health Practices Argumentative Essay Topics 

• The marijuana drug should be made legal worldwide
• TV shows on diet and weight loss don’t motivate people to improve their body image and self-esteem
• Is the state responsible for teaching people how to lead a healthy lifestyle?
• Communication authorities should impose an indefinite ban on TV shows that promote cosmetic surgery
• TV commercials that promote fast foods and alcohol should not be banned.
• It’s a waste of time to impose state regulation on fast food chains and alcohol sales as it undermines people’s freewill to food choices.
• Should we allow and encourage teenagers to use birth control pills?
• The state should not encourage the use of products manufactured at the cost of another person’s well-being.
• Exercise alone can’t improve your health
• Doctors should not ask for medical consent if they know they can save a patient from a particular illness

Medical Laws and Policies Argumentative Essay Topics 

• Should the government declare euthanasia illegal?
• Doctors should not insist on providing medical treatment to minors if their parents are against such treatments.
• The vaccination of children against illnesses should be voluntary
• An organ transplantation committee should not consider an individual’s accomplishment to determine if they can receive an organ
• Patients should decide if they would like to use surrogate pregnancy for health reasons or on demand
• Is doctor-patient confidentially necessary anymore?
• There’s no concrete evidence that living a sedentary and lavish lifestyle is the number one cause of weight gain
• Should we support the legalization of abortion?
• Should patients with mental health conditions receive treatment in or outside of their community?
• People should not accept organ transplantation because of leading an unhealthy life

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Argumentative Essay Topics on Medical Research 

• Genetic engineering is humanly unethical and morally wrong and should therefore not be allowed
• Are there effective means to mitigate threats posed by medical research?
• There is no reasonable evidence that the Covid-19 global pandemic originated from a lab I Wuhan, China
• Medics should not use animals to test the effective of drugs on humans
• Computers used in medical research and diagnostic cannot replace doctors no matter how sophisticated they become.
• Should human beings be subject to mandatory medical testing without their consent?
• Should the federal government and health organizations, such as the UN and CDC, finance practical medical research?
• Do we need to have limits when subjecting human beings to absolutely necessary medical tests?
• The Corona virus is a biochemical weapon built in the lab to wipe out the human race
• There’s no sufficient evidence to prove that pills that delay aging can make the human race immortal

Medical Argumentative Essay Topics on Healthcare Management 

• Is healthcare management doing enough to maintain the right standards in healthcare facilities?
• Are privately owned hospitals managed better than public hospitals?
• Registered nurses should not assume the role of a physician even in the event of a serious medical emergency
• Human Resource Management (HR) isn’t doing enough to improve and protect the quality of healthcare
• Do surgeons play an important role outside their medical capacities?
• Are healthcare institutions responsible for the protection of the environment?
• The relationship between and among medical staff can affect the quality of patients of different illnesses.
• There’s no relationship between a patient’s medical results and a hospital’s revenue.
• It’s easy to improve the relationship among staff members in a healthcare facility
• Should medical management allow and encourage intimate relationships among the staff members?

General Medical Argumentative Essay Topics 

• Has the American government invested enough funds to improve healthcare service for its residents?
• There should be as many male nurses as there are female nurses
• Are data management systems in hospitals accurate and safe against breach?
• Do prisoners have the right to access quality healthcare?
• Electronic health record systems have more limitations than benefits.

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About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.