The Importance of Teaching Humanity
As founding faculty members of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Drs. William and Marjorie Sirridge taught and mentored an entire generation of medical students. It was their vision to incorporate humanities education into the making of physicians who were able to see the patient as a person and bring both science and art to healing. So, for decades, UMKC has fully integrated the humanities — history, the arts, ethics and professionalism – throughout its curriculum. It has been noted by the late Dr. Eric Cassell, a renowned American physician and bioethicist, that the place of humanities in medicine should be obvious and celebrated, as medicine holds an “enormously increasing power… to change individual lives… to profoundly influence social policy… and provide rich fare for philosophical, historical and literary examination, interpretation and analysis.” As we emerge from a global pandemic and reimagine what medicine should be, those approaches that are humane, ethical and reflective of our best nature must prevail. The humanities inform us of how we can know, value and serve the communities from which our patients come and fulfill the role of service to those in need in an equitable manner. The way that literature, the arts, history and bioethics instruct us has a lot to do with how we “see” and consider the world in which we live and the people with whom we interact. Whether our interactions are social, professional or coincidental, seeing the other as one of us remains fundamental as we aspire to live and model civility. Respectful and civil conversation can be pursued when we all acknowledge our shared histories — and flaws. Physicians trained in the humanities can learn how to listen to people’s stories and acquire “other ways of knowing” – as narrative medicine expert Rita Charon, M.D., Ph.D., once said. This knowing leads to doctoring that is attuned not only to science, but healing in all that it means.
Our focus at the UMKC School of Medicine is on the success of our students — equipping them with the knowledge and skills to practice medicine with excellence, compassion and justice. I hope you see some of these aims reflected in the artwork in this edition of Human Factor. I also hope you take a moment to remember the vision and partnership of Drs. William and Marjorie Sirridge.
Brian S. Carter, M.D. Chairman and William and Marjorie Sirridge Professor, Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics UMKC School of Medicine