Medical Students achieve the designation of Humanities Scholar upon graduation by completing the following requirements. This designation is noted on the permanent transcript and is acknowledged at graduation.
Contact the Scholars Program
Requirement #1: Earn 3 Medical Humanities course credits
These courses are generally completed during the first two years of medical school, mainly for logistical reasons. Course requirements vary and are explained in the course syllabus. Completed courses appear on the student’s transcript. There is no penalty for starting but not completing a course; it just won’t appear on your transcript.
- Some courses offer ½ course credit for the equivalent of 5 hours of contact time.
- Other courses offer 1 full course credit for the equivalent of 10 hours of contact time.
Course credit is awarded for satisfactory completion. Generally, a course may not be taken for credit more than once, with the exception of certain seminars that offer advanced content. 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.
Requirement #2: Attend and document 6 accredited hours of Medical Humanities presentations
In addition to our courses, we also offer stand-alone lectures and presentations during the academic year. These are generally hour-long activities and are listed on the Electives calendar. Additional on-campus and off-campus humanities events are added to the calendar throughout the year. Students may also apply to have an unlisted event count for credit, such as a Medical Humanities presentation offered at another institution. (Certain Humanities courses offer a 1-hour credit for attending the first, introductory session. This applies only to students who are not claiming course credit.)
Students document attendance by journaling a 500-word reflection. Journal entries must clearly specify student name, date, speaker, and topic of presentation. They should be reflective, not simply report the content of the presentation. Writing prompts to consider: What did you appreciate most about the presentation? What impacted you? What surprised you? What upset or unsettled you? What would you want to learn more about? Students save these journal entries to their portfolio. They are submitted for approval by the Director of the Scholars Program. Reflections must be posted within 24 hours of attending the presentation.
The following is a typical timetable. There may be exceptions based on an individual student’s circumstances. It is strongly recommended that all grand rounds and elective course requirements be completed by the end of F&F year 2. It is also recommended that a substantial piece of work toward the completion of the capstone project be done during the summer in between year 1 and year 2.