Voices from the Community:
An art and a science
A program at the University of Alberta seeks to balance the study of medicine with a healthy dose of the arts and humanities.
"The practice of medicine is very closely intertwined with issues of governance, budgets, and social agendas, as well as issues of human drama, loss, and hope. . . . I think it's a big mistake, and an incredibly huge loss, if doctors simply resign themselves to being technicians."
So says Vincent Lam, emergency physician and the 2006 winner of the prestigious Giller Prize for his book of short stories, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures. If Dr. Lam's words summarize a problem with the practice of medicine, his very identity embodies part of its solution. As a doctor and a writer, he embraces both scientific and artistic elements. And if the practice of medicine is truly both a science and an art, as many claim, shouldn't all healthcare professionals be exposed to both aspects in their training?
In fact, more and more medical schools are trying to connect the area of overlap of the arts and humanities on the one hand, and health and medicine on the other—a domain often referred to as "the medical humanities". In Canada many medical faculties have incorporated some aspects of the medical humanities into their curricula, but a program at the University of Alberta, launched in May 2006, is only the second initiative in the country devoted solely to the medical humanities. According to its mission statement, this program aims to create a balance of science and the humanities within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, in order to help develop "well-rounded health professionals who are skilled, caring, reflexive, and compassionate practitioners".
The Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program (AHHM) was championed by Dr. Tom Marrie, who came to the University of Alberta from Dalhousie University, the home of Canada's very first medical-humanities program. Upon his appointment as dean of medicine and dentistry, he decided to establish a similar presence here. "It seemed to me that a program in the humanities would help our students in many ways," he explains. "Sensitization to human suffering and the element of reflection that is necessary in the humanities do make one a better doctor."
The program is co-directed by Dr. Verna Yiu, a pediatric nephrologist and the Faculty's assistant dean of student affairs, and Dr. Pamela Brett-MacLean, whose recently defended Ph.D. dissertation concerned aging, the arts, and well-being. The two proposed a broad program that would recognize current activities in areas often considered to be medical humanities—law, ethics, and history. But that's not all. The program may also encompass "multicultural and international health, care of the elderly, end-of-life care, human values, complementary and alternative medicine, and other areas in the arts and social sciences (e.g., religious studies, psychology)."
"We want to create connections with ongoing efforts, but also create new connections in different arts and humanities areas, and with different faculties and organizations," explains Dr. Brett-MacLean.
Since the curriculum for medical and dental students is already jam-packed, much of the arts and humanities program's offerings are extracurricular. To date, the program has collaborated to organize events such as a series of monthly speakers; a visit and reading by Victor Lam; an exhibition of the art of Robert Pope ("Reaching out with hope and healing"); a book launch (François Martin Mai's Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven); and a performance of Ball, a one-act play about a young man's experience with testicular cancer. Writing workshops have been popular, and this fall a "Writer-in-Medicine" position will be launched to provide feedback on writing submissions and share expertise with writing and publishing. An approach called narrative medicine—which encourages physicians and medical students to write about their patients in a way that goes beyond the bare facts of a medical chart, in order to help them better understand the person—is also being developed, starting with a reading group of medical students and doctors.
The AHHM program offers many opportunities to partner with other organizations in the community. An arts-and-science symposium will take place in November to help celebrate Edmonton's designation as the Cultural Capital of Canada for 2007. From January to May 2008 the program will also present a film festival entitled "Good Medicine" in partnership with the Edmonton Public Library.
At a time when health care is increasingly governed by the pressures of funding, sustainability, and technology, the Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program reminds us that, at its root, the practice of medicine is still a very human endeavour.