Put humanities on the curriculum, say medical students

Three quarters of medical students think that medical humanities, such as literature, should be offered on the curriculum, says a study published in the August edition of Medical Education (2000; 34: 622-9). Of the students who thought that including humanities was a good idea, 89% thought that it should not be examined.

According to the study, medical students also find reading for pleasure harder to maintain after starting at university. They listed time pressure, work, study, and academic demands as the main causes.

First, second, and third year medical students at Newcastle University filled in a questionnnaire about what they read and why; 67% (258/384) responded. Forty per cent read one or more fiction books a month, but 75% of these had read fewer non-curriculum books since they started their course.

Another important factor was that the university environment tended to offer more sociable and interactive ways of relaxing. So reading for pleasure was not the most favourable break from study.

The students gave various reasons for reading outside the curriculum. One student said reading An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan increased his awareness of life outside personal experience, while "laughing out loud" to Roddy Doyle's The Snapper was the emotional response one student craved. Another said "understanding and enjoying" Shakespeare perpetuated an interest in reading. The novels read by students ranged from War and Peace by Tolstoy to The BFG by Roald Dahl.

Students were also asked to compile a "Top 10" of noncourse books that they thought other students would benefit from reading. Rated most highly were To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, and Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

Jenny Blythe, Dundee


studentBMJ 2000;08:303-346 September ISSN 0966-6494