Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33761941›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2021

The role of humanities in the medical curriculum: medical students' perspectives.

Loukia Petrou, Emma Mittelman, Oluwapelumi Osibona, Mona Panahi, Joanna M Harvey, Yusuf A A Patrick, Kathleen E Leedham-Green

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  4. Utilizing a Medical Humanities-Driven Curriculum to Teach Substance Use Disorder Core Content: A Pilot Course.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Loukia PetrouImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK. lp2415@ic.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0569-7882
Emma MittelmanImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.
Oluwapelumi OsibonaImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.
Mona PanahiImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.
Joanna M HarveyImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.
Yusuf A A PatrickImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.
Kathleen E Leedham-GreenImperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, London, SW7 2DD, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe humanities have long been shown to play an important role in the medical school curriculum. However, few studies have looked into the opinions of medical students on the usefulness and necessity of the humanities as well as their extracurricular involvement with them. The aim of this study was to: a) understand medical students' attitude towards the humanities in medical education and b) assess their understanding of the necessary qualities of doctors and how interaction with the humanities affects the development of such attributes.

methodsA mixed methods survey was designed to elicit demographics, engagement, interest and perspective on curricular positioning, and to explore how students ranked the qualities of a doctor. It was distributed to medical students of all year groups in the 6-year bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (MBBS) course at Imperial College London.

resultsOne hundred nine fully completed questionnaires were received. No significant difference was found in engagement or interest in the humanities between genders. Students felt strongly that humanities subjects shouldn't be assessed (71:18) though some felt it was necessary for engagement, while no consensus was reached on whether these subjects should be elective or not (38:31). The majority of students wanted more medical humanities to be incorporated into the traditional medical course with a preference of incorporation into the first 3 years. Junior medical students were more likely to rank empathy as a highly desirable attribute than senior students. Students provided qualitative insights into curricular positioning, assessment and value.

conclusionsThis study provides the perspective of medical students on how and whether the humanities should be positioned in medical education. It may be helpful to medical schools that are committed to student involvement in curriculum design.

Indexed as

Education, Medical, UndergraduateStudents, MedicalCurriculumFemaleHumanitiesHumansLondonMaleSchools, MedicalCurriculumHumanitiesMedical educationMedical students

Identifiers

PMID33761941
PMCPMC7992827

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.