Medical Humanities Concentration

To receive course credit for completion of the Medical Humanities Concentration, students must complete the following elements prior to graduation:

Academic Component – Each track has a required series of seminars, which students must complete before continuing with the concentration. Once complete, students will be matched with a mentor to determine the practicum and project that suit their goals.

Medical Humanities Practicum – 20 hours or more of practicum experience. Students may choose to focus their practicum hours on activities specifically related to their track, but they are also encouraged to take part in other medical or health humanities related activities. All students will also be expected to attend events around campus and New Haven that connect to the medical/health humanities and to write short reflections on at least six events.

Medical Humanities Scholarly Project – A scholarly/creative project.

In 2024-2025, seminars will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

• Wednesday, Nov. 6: Nuts and Bolts of Storytelling
• Wednesday, Dec. 4: Beginnings and Endings
• Thursday, Jan. 16: Structure and Outline
• Tuesday, March 4: Finding Your Voice

20 hours of hands-on writing/editing experience with publication/podcast opportunities at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and/or within the greater New Haven community. Options are approved on an individual basis. They may include but are not limited to:

• Serving as a reflective writing workshop leader
• Serving as an editor of Murmurs, the creative journal of Yale health profession students
• Completing YSM electives in medical humanities, such as Poetry and Medicine, and Narrative Medicine
• Editing, blogging, interviewing, and/or writing for a Yale publication
• Any of the options under the Critical Health Humanities Practicum list

Students will work with a project mentor to complete a writing project that can be a series of articles, poems, or one larger work of fiction or non-fiction. The student’s mentor will provide guidance to shape the project, provide feedback on drafts, and assist with editing.

In 2024-2025, seminars will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

• ·Wednesday, Nov. 6: Orientation – What is Medical Education for?
• Thursday, Dec. 12: Art Gallery Pedagogy with Cyra Levenson
• Thursday, Jan. 16: Proposal Review
• Thursday, Feb. 6: Special Event: Making the Invisible Visible Ten-Year Anniversary
• Thursday, Feb. 20: Practice Tour

20 hours of curriculum development/programming experience in museum-based education focused on issues in health justice and professional identity formation at YSM and the Yale University Art Gallery and/or within the greater New Haven community. Skill building is enhanced through mentorship, critical dialogue/self-reflection, and exposure to pedagogical approaches to museum-based teaching. Options are approved on an individual basis. They may include but are not limited to:

• Training as a Making the Invisible Visible facilitator
• Researching, designing, and writing content for museum education
• Arts/humanities-based community engagement on issues of health justice
• Any of the practicum options under the Writing for the Public track

Students will work with a project mentor to complete a capstone project of their own design that uses written and/or visual art to interrogate issues of social justice and equity as they relate to the health care system. The student’s mentor will provide guidance to maximize the project’s community impact, insight into museum-based pedagogy, and support for the student’s own professional identity formation.