The Medical Humanities Undergraduate Minor program at Saint Louis University is dedicated to the study of the humanities as foundational disciplines for quality health care education and professional development. 

Leadership

Anne M. Stiles, Ph.D.
    Director

Curriculum Overview

The course of study is intended to prepare students for careers in the health sciences by giving them an expanded awareness of how disease and care have been imaged and experienced by people in diverse personal circumstances, cultures, and eras, and how people's values often conflict in the health care setting. Such awareness can serve as a foundation for competent, ethical care that acknowledges and respects differing interpretations and meanings of illness experience and suffering. Such awareness also serves as the ground for addressing responsibly the conflicts of value that arise in endeavors of treatment.

Internship

Internship in a Clinical Setting (ENGL 4910 Internship (1-6 cr)). In place of one elective, students may opt to complete a 3-credit internship in a clinical setting. This internship should involve at least 30 credits of shadowing or other work in a health-care environment. It must be supervised by the Director of Medical Humanities and by a designee in a health care setting. Internships at Saint Louis University Hospitals cannot be counted towards this requirement, but internships in other hospital, classroom, or clinic settings are eligible.

Capstone Requirement

In the final year of the minor, each student will be required to complete a substantial (18-20 page) research paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the Director. Often, this paper expands on written work completed in the student’s coursework for the minor. Each spring, students completing the minor will present their capstone papers at a public forum on campus.

Continuation Standards

All Medical Humanities minor courses must be completed with a grade of C or higher in order to count for the minor and for the student to continue in the minor.