Principal Investigator: Emily Beckman, assistant clinical professor, Medical Humanities & Health Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Project Title: From Books to Bedside: Development of an Interdisciplinary Clinical Practicum for Students in Medical Humanities
Funding Level: $5,000
Abstract:
As the need for Medical Humanities graduate education grows, the Medical Humanities-Health Studies (MHHS) Program at IUPUI is in the process of proposing and implementing a Graduate Certificate in Medical Humanities. The primary goal of the Graduate Certificate in Medical Humanities is to enrich students’ education and professional development as they prepare to continue graduate work in the health professions, or to supplement and enrich their existing degree and/or health-related career. As students of Medical Humanities continue to study medicine, health, and illness from a range of humanities and social science perspectives, a key piece of the education experience is the clinical practicum. A requirement of the graduate certificate, the clinical practicum will examine and shed light upon the important intersection between medicine as a science and medicine as an art. Currently, no clinical opportunity exists for graduate students pursuing a certificate or for undergraduates pursuing an MHHS major or minor. This grant will allow us the opportunity to collaborate with faculty from both Liberal Arts and Medicine to develop and implement the interdisciplinary practicum, which will be a key component of the graduate certificate. This program will not only attract current IUPUI students, but also students already involved in, or planning to pursue health-related careers. In addition to fulfilling a requirement for graduate certificate students, the clinical practicum will serve as a stand-alone Medical Humanities course available to MHHS undergraduates planning to pursue graduate medical or other health-related education. The development and implementation of the clinical practicum will allow students the opportunity to relate what they learn in the Liberal Arts classroom to the art and science of medicine in the clinic.