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Christopher Mathieu

Christopher Mathieu

Associate Professor | Senior Lecturer

Christopher Mathieu

The enduring effects of medical humanities on medical students : Short- and long-term impacts of 15 years of teaching a medical humanities course in a Swedish medical degree program

Author

  • Katarina Bernhardsson
  • Christopher Mathieu
  • Alexander Tejera
  • Lars Hagander

Summary, in English

This article analyzes the immediate and long-term effects of medical humanities teaching at a Swedish medical degree program. The objectives, format, and core pedagogical ideas and practices of an elective course in medical humanities are presented, situating the learning experience in the wider context of medical humanities in the Nordics. We conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of course evaluations amassed over 15 years and of open-ended responses in an alumni survey sent out in 2023. Using these two sources, we compare the students’ immediate perception of medical humanities’ contribution to their education with what they discern when looking back. The students report that medical humanities teaching advances an understanding and responsiveness to narratives and furthers an ability to balance the rational, bio-medical perspective with a more holistic empathetic view of patients and illness, providing a deeper and broader toolkit to work from in clinical practice. The students perceive that they have acquired a specific expertise, obtained training in perspective taking, and yielded personal growth and agency. The interpretative sensitivities and competencies reverberated in the alumni survey and were reported to influence subsequent clinical work. Our study suggests that the impact of medical humanities teaching is transferred to both occupational practice and personal life, and that the impact is long term.

Department/s

  • Comparative Literature
  • Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities (BRCMH)
  • CIRCLE
  • Sociology
  • Paediatrics (Lund)
  • Pediatric surgery
  • Surgery and public health

Publishing year

2025-08-30

Language

English

Publication/Series

Journal of Medical Humanities

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Pedagogy

Keywords

  • Medical humanities
  • Medical education
  • Long-term follow-up
  • Professional development
  • Medical students
  • Medical doctors

Status

Epub

Project

  • Phronesis and the art of clinical practice - Humanities in medical studies and professional development in surgical training

Research group

  • Pediatric surgery
  • Surgery and public health

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1041-3545