Medical Humanities, Minor

The medical humanities undergraduate minor program at Saint Louis University is dedicated to the study of the humanities as foundational disciplines for quality health care education and professional development. 

Leadership

Anne M. Stiles, Ph.D.
    Director

Curriculum Overview

SLU's minor in medical humanities is intended to prepare students for careers in the health sciences by giving them an expanded awareness of how disease and care have been imaged and experienced by people in diverse personal circumstances, cultures, and eras, and how people's values often conflict in the health care setting. Such awareness can serve as a foundation for competent, ethical care that acknowledges and respects differing interpretations and meanings of illness experience and suffering. It also serves as the base for responsibly addressing the conflicts of value that arise in treatment endeavors.

Introductory Course
ENGL 3730Introduction to Medical Humanities, Literature3
English Requirement3
Medicine and Literature
(or any other ENGL course bearing the Medical Humanities attribute)
Philosophy, Theology, and History Requirements6
Choose a course from two out of these three departments:
Medical Ethics
Death and Suffering
A Post Human Future? The Ethics of Technology
Required Elective Course3
Choose one approved course from the list below:
Health Communication
Medicine, Mind, and Victorian Fiction
Ethics in Clinical Medicine
Freaks and the Medical Body
Warriors and Medics
Ethics and Geriatric Care
Law and Bioethics
Intro to Music Therapy
Death and Suffering
A Post Human Future? The Ethics of Technology
Total Credits15

Capstone Requirement

In the final year of the minor, each student will be required to complete a substantial (18-20 page) research paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the director. Often, this paper expands on written work completed in the student’s coursework for the minor. Each spring, students completing the minor will present their capstone papers at a public forum on campus.

Continuation Standards

All medical humanities minor courses must be completed with a grade of C or higher in order to count for the minor and for the student to continue in the minor.