The Division of Medical Humanities offers medical students the opportunity to enrich their medical education by study and involvement in the humanities through participation in Humanities Elective courses, Humanities Grand Rounds, Humanities Special Events, and Directed Research activities. These offerings are open to all interested students. Each year medical students who participate in Humanities courses and activities qualify for the special designation of Humanities Scholar, which is noted on the permanent transcript and at graduation, as well as by receipt of a Humanities Scholar certificate issued by the Division of Medical Humanities.
1. Complete all requirements by August 1 of the senior year. Students completing their requirements by this time will receive a certificate of achievement, have their accomplishment mentioned in their Dean’s letter, and have a notation in their medical school record.
2. Complete all requirements by March 15 of the senior year. Students who complete their requirements by this time will receive a certificate of achievement and a notation in their medical school record, but will not be finished in time for mention in the Dean’s letter.
Students who are considering becoming a Humanities Scholar should discuss their plans with Florence Gelo, D.Min., Director of the Humanities Scholars Program, at Florence.Gelo@drexelmed.edu or at 215-991-8464.
Course credit is awarded for satisfactory completion of three different Humanities Elective courses which are offered at the Queen Lane campus during the academic year. No course may be taken for credit more than once. Students must sign in at each class session and meet all other individual course requirements in order to receive course credit. Course credit appears on each student’s medical school transcript.
Humanities Grand Rounds presentations are offered at the Queen Lane Campus. Humanities Special Events take advantage of Philadelphia’s unique medical community and include walking tours, museum visits, etc. Students must attend the actual, live lecture or event to get credit for at least four Humanities Grand Rounds. The remaining two Grand Rounds can be viewed online or on DVD. Students document attendance or viewing DVDs by keeping a journal in which they briefly record their impressions and reactions to each Humanities Grand Rounds or Special Event (about 1/2 page, or 2 paragraphs each). Journal entries must clearly specify date, speaker, and topic of presentation. Contact the Division of Medical Humanities at 215-991-8464 to inquire whether an outside activity can be approved for Humanities Grand Rounds/Humanities Special Event credit.
Students retain their journals until Humanities course and Grand Rounds/Special Events requirements are completed, at which time each student presents his/her journal entries, along with a current medical school transcript indicating completion of three elective courses, to the Director of the Humanities Scholars Program to document completion of primary requirements for Humanities Scholars Certificate.
Students must attend, or view online, a lecture that addresses the basic aspects of writing a publishable paper on a humanities topic and complete a journal entry describing key points from the session.
Students must submit a one to two paragraph written proposal and obtain approval of the topic for the independent study project. General areas of inquiry include ethics, literature, history, philosophy, art, cultural studies, law, religion and spirituality, and music as they relate to medicine. The proposal should also list two or three peer-reviewed journals or Internet venues for publication.
Students wishing to pursue the Humanities Scholar Certificate must complete primary requirements and then meet with the Director of the Humanities Scholars Program to discuss the project. Students work with a faculty advisor who has expertise in the chosen area of inquiry. To receive credit, students must complete an acceptable research paper of at least ten pages in length, with references, or a substantial project, that has been approved by the Director of the Humanities Scholars Program.
Students may choose to create a research elective in the medical humanities in their senior year. This may serve as an opportunity for intensive work toward the completion of the Humanities Scholar paper or project requirement. The student must identify a humanities faculty preceptor who must pre-approve the goals of the elective. The elective must also be pre-approved by Professor Gelo, Director of the Scholars Program. All arrangements must be made through the DUCoM clerkship office; refer to the website regarding special electives
http://webcampus.drexelmed.edu/clinicaleducation/SpecialElectiveinfo.htm
**Note: This rotation is full-time and requires dedicated research and frequent on-site meetings between student and preceptor. It cannot be completed as an "away" rotation.
Kristen Carey
Mandatory Reporting of Domestic Violence: an Ethical and Human Rights Perspective
Dominic Gault
Health Beliefs of the Delaware Indians
Meredith Lee Heltzer
Plant References in Shakespeare
Daniel A. Smith
Why Methadone Maintenance Treatment is not accepted in America
Parveen Vahora
Silent Shrieks: Female Genital Mutilation
Christopher Ware
Internet Usage and Validity Testing by Chronic Pain Patients: Results of a Web-based Survey
Mary C. Davies
Pioneering Otolaryngologists of The Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania 1883-1900
Asif Ilyas
Orthopedic Surgery: The First Modern Medical Specialty?
Sonu Jain
Chevalier Jackson and the Introduction of Modern Bronchoesophogoscopy
Erum Khan
Violence against Muslim Women: Culture versus Religion
Abigail Rose
Reflections on My Experience Working with the Navajo in Shiprock, New Mexico
Joel Martin Schofer
Informed Consent and the Wartime Environment
Laurie A. Wincko
Children and Violence: The Role of Art Therapy
Jason Estrin
Estrin, J.E., Tenore, J., Fleetwood, J., and Lipsky, M.
"Genetic Susceptibility Testing for Breast Cancer: Implications for Practitioners."
Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. Vol. 7, No 1, January, 2000.
Amy Baranowski
Medical Genetics
Keri Cohn
Beyond the Sterile White Walls
Vanita B. Dharan
The use of alternative therapies in Obstetrics: A review of the literature
Zoe Friedman
Alternative and Complementary (CAM) Healing Modalities
Greta Piper
Perspectives on Organ Donation
Danielle Raimond
The Controversy over the Truth
William E. Schaaf, Jr.
The Potential of Music Therapy as an Option for Patients Undergoing MRI
Harris Ahmad
Proper Care for the Fasting Diabetic Muslim in the Month of Ramadan
Rose Antoine
Religion and Spirituality in Medical Education
Scott Bier
A Discussion of Ancient Egyptian Medical Practice
Shilpi Mehta
Understanding the Decision Not to Reduce: The Case of the McCaughey Septuplets
Jeevan Sekhar
A Brief History of Chinese Medicine: The Impact of Antibiotics on Chinese Medical Practice
Monica Dua
Art Therapy in the Pediatric Population as an Adjunct to Medical Treatment
Vasiliki A. Moragianni
Ethical Considerations of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
Megan Beatty
Literary Medical Doctors
Nina Nanda
Catholicism vs. Hinduism: Issues of End-of-Life Care
Anne Valerie Maria Nienstedt
Linguistic, Cultural, and Ethical Considerations in the Doctor-Patient Relationship Involving Hispanic Patients in the United States
Diana X. Bharucha
End of Life in the Pediatric Population
Robert Bramante
An Appropriate Symbol for Modern Medicine or a Case of Mistaken Identity
Kristin Geisser Christensen
Compulsory HPV Vaccination Examining the Debate
Amanda Ficacelli
End of Life Care in Pediatrics
Leslie C. Ghisletta
A Glance at Women in Surgery
Ritu Kumar
Using Art to analyze the physician patient relationship
Athanasios Melisiotis
Communication and Cultural Barriers in the Effective Treatment of the non-English speaking population in the Emergency Department
Michelle Orengo-McFarlane
Derangements of the uterus, derangements of the nerves; women writes on hysteria
Neelam Mahendra Patel
The Polio and Asthma Epidemics: Public Awareness and Prevention in the United States
Tiffany Pierce
The Effects of Federal Funded Abstinence Only Education
Meghan Treitz
Portrayal of Grief in Children's Literature
Laura Napier Dougherty
That One Simple Test: An Examination of the Development of the Pregnancy Test, Emergency Medicine and a Changing Society
Stephanie Keller
Cultural Expectations and the Evolution of MRI Scanning
Bonnie Lau
The Chinese Culture’s perception on Death and Illness
Megan Gould
Oliver and Olivia – an illustrated story
Sanistree Tanikella
Interested in Learning More about Mind-Body Medicine
Michael Tatusov
History of Vaccine Development
Patricia Young
Improving Cancer Prognosis with better Communication Practices
Sara Beltz
Images of the Black Death: The 1347 Plague and Art History
Tess Bitterman
Ethical Considerations/Politics in Pandemics
Joanna Gernsback
I Have What!?! Medical Naming Conventions
Megan Healy
Epilepsy & Africa
Paul Phelps
The Evolution of Cataract Surgery as Ophthalmology Becomes a Modern Medical Specialty
Shawn Robinson
Islam and Christianity: A Comparison of Health Care Viewpoints
Heather Swanson
Identifying and Preventing Child Abuse and its Long Term Outcomes
Jennifer B. White
Gender Differences in Substance Abuse and Treatment