Medical Humanities Concentration

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Davidson’s Medical Humanities Program promotes an interdisciplinary understanding of medicine and health care. It enables students to appreciate the strengths and limits of the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities as they seek to explain and to achieve a measure of control over disease, illness and suffering. It helps students to grasp the institutional character of health care delivery, especially how legal and political institutions influence the production, distribution and delivery of services.

Medical Humanities courses emphasize the role ethical values play in defining problems as “medical,” worthy of scientific study, calling for mobilization of social as well as individual resources. The courses help students to develop the analytical skills that permit clear thinking and writing about the complex trade-offs involved in developing, using and paying for health care.

The Davidson/CMC Connection

In 1990, Davidson College and the Carolinas Medical Center joined in a formal agreement “to cooperate and share resources toward the common betterment of health care, the education and training of physicians, and improved understanding of the relationship between medicine and society.” Under the auspices of this agreement, Davidson students enjoy access to an expanded range of educational opportunities that only a large teaching hospital can provide.

Requirements

PHI 130 - Medical Ethics
required of all

Five Electives selected from

Five electives, only two of which count toward the major. No more than two electives may be taken from any one department or from those listed by the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Electives are selected from:

Additional Information

With the written approval of the program director, departmental seminars from biology, philosophy, political science, or psychology may also be included as electives for the concentration.

Additional electives may be proposed. One of the electives may be an independent study, tutorial, or practicum arranged with a member of the Medical Humanities faculty. Students planning to do this must meet with Dr. Lance Stell.

Application Procedure

The Medical Humanities Advisory Council oversees and guides the Medical Humanities Concentration which is administered by Dr. Lance Stell, the program director. Students interested in completing the concentration should obtain an application form in Preyer 105 and arrange to meet with Dr. Stell to review the application and proposal for the concentration. If one of the proposed electives is an independent study or practicum, the student shall ordinarily provide for approval a complete description of that course prior to the term of enrollment. Any changes to the courses used to fulfill the concentration must be submitted in writing to the director for his approval. Certification of completion of all requirements for the concentration is made by the Registrar upon the recommendation of the Director of the Medical Humanities Program.