What is the value of studying the humanities in the field of health professions?

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  • What is the value of studying the humanities in the field of health professions?
  • How might a topic such as art, literature, music, dance, etc. from other time periods enhance your career and personal life in the present?
  • Select one aspect of the humanities that is meaningful to your personal life and one for career. Explain how is each meaningful.
  • In addition, include a specific example of a work (a specific work of art, literature, theater, or music) that you feel is meaningful to your personal life and/or career. Explain the connection.

Answer

The humanities help us understand and relate to people  a crucial factor in building and maintaining relationships  thus, in providing effective health care. Improving medical practitioners’ abilities to understand and relate to patients is one of the primary issues the emerging interdisciplinary field of medical humanities is trying to address. As the medical profession continues to include humanities in its curriculum, it will have an opportunity to develop practical and valuable skills such as critical and reflective thinking, a professional conscience, and a healthy emotional outlet for the next generations of physicians. Humanities in medical education can foster an active professional conscience in students.  By creating a relationship between humanities and medicine, student doctors and physicians are provided with an outlet to express themselves in a safe and responsible manner. There is also evidence that suggests that humanities may aid in the health of students and practitioners. While practitioners are entrusted with the lives of others which they share in the burden of witnessing the toll of disease. The importance of art in our daily lives is very similar to that of music. Like art, music can make life extremely joyful and can have a huge effect on our mood. According to music in the work place it is something that can help people set the mood for what they are about to do. If you have something hard or difficult to work on or are feeling tired, an energetic song will likely wake you up and add some enthusiasm to the situation. At the same time , when stress is high, many people find that relaxing to calming music is something that eases the mind. The humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures. The humanities encourage us to think creatively. They teach us to reason about being human and to ask questions about our world. The humanities develop informed and critical citizens. They teach us to deal critically and logically with subjective, complex, imperfect information. It teach empathy.