ArticleBMJ open2017
Use of humour in medical education: a survey of students and teachers at a medical school in China.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Humor in library instruction: a narrative review with implications for the health sciences.Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA · 2019Pooled it
- Attention, Engagement, and Retention Walk Into a Noon Conference: Using Humor to Improve Resident Education.Journal of graduate medical education · 2026Article
- Teaching and shaping young minds: Perspectives of south Indian medical students on psychiatry education- An online survey.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Teaching and learning with instructional humor: a review of five-decades research and further direction.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- A survey on the attitudes of Chinese medical students towards current pathology education.BMC medical education · 2020Article
- Medical student's perception to different types of set induction in anatomy lectures.Anatomy & cell biology · 2019Article
- Effective Educational Videos in Emergency Medicine.AEM education and training · 2018Article
- Effective and innovative teaching methods in psychiatry for the medical undergraduates in South India: An exploratory study of teachers' and students' perspectives.Indian journal of psychiatryArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveHumour is a powerful resource in medical education. The purpose of this study is to investigate what students and teachers think about the use of humour. What challenges do teachers face in using humour and how they address them are also the subject of the present study.
designSeparate cross-sectional questionnaire surveys.
settingTongji Medical College and Tongji Hospital in China.
participants327 students at Tongji Medical College and 165 physician teachers at Tongji Hospital in China.
main outcome measuresThe primary study outcome was assessed by proportion.
results87% of student and teacher respondents agreed with using humour in the didactic setting. They felt humour fostered a positive didactic atmosphere. Interesting clinical case was the most frequently used humour type by teachers and considered the most effective by students. Lack of humorous materials related to the lecture subject was the main challenge to humour use cited by teachers. Collecting humorous materials in teacher's daily work and life, observing teachers with a reputation for successfully using humour, and efficiently using the internet-enhanced humour use ability.
conclusionThe present study confirms that most medical students and physician teachers support the use of humour in medical didactics, with particular strategies aiding its use and positive impact.
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