The Program for Humanities in Medicine

The Program for Humanities in Medicine at Yale Medical School offers a lively, meaningful, and provocative approach to the art and practice of medicine. 

The medical humanities – which includes art, music, literature, drama, writing, philosophy, history, and more – can enrich our lives in medicine, increase our ability to observe, help us understand perspectives other than our own, shed light on community concerns, expose our assumptions, and provide a means for grappling with the inherent uncertainty in medicine. 

But they can – and should – do more than that. Here at Yale, we strive to use the medical humanities as a springboard to raise the critical consciousness of our community. Through a wide variety of opportunities, both curricular and extracurricular, we strive to stimulate thought and discussion about the narratives we tell about our patients, ourselves, and the systems we work in; the traditions we have inherited; the role we play in questions of justice; and what futures we imagine for ourselves as a profession. 

We collaborate on many programs with faculty and students from Yale’s other schools and institutions including the School of Nursing, School of Art, British Art Center, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Yale College.