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A new breed of student is emerging from the University of Leicester – gaining an arts qualification as part of their medical degree.

Miriam Gent is thought to be the first student to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Medical Humanities, taken as an intercalated degree, part-way through her undergraduate medicine degree.

Leicester appears to be the only medical school in the UK – possibly even further afield - to offer an intercalated degree in medical humanities to medical students at Master’s level.

The Leicester MA in Medical Humanities opens up new areas of medical debate through the study of history, literature, art, film, politics, psychology, and archaeology. It provides a thorough grounding in Arts research skills and methodologies, which in turn offer the analytical skills to discuss, for instance, the history of medicine and the public image of the doctor, race, gender, the treatment of mental illness and of the elderly.

Miriam’s MA tutor in the University’s Medical School, Dr Paul Lazarus, has worked with the College of Arts, Humanities and Law in setting up this programme. He explained the intercalated process: “Students take a whole academic year out from their medical training to study full time, alongside graduates from Arts disciplines, a range of issues covering humanities subjects. They also undertake a piece of research. They will pay particular attention to the interface between Arts-based disciplines and the study and practice of medicine.

“The humanities tell us a lot about human experience. Where this relates to issues of health and sickness it can provide would-be doctors, and other health care practitioners, with additional insight into the ways in which they and others practise medicine, and how patients themselves may view their problems (possibly in a different light from the ‘traditional’ medical approach).

“Existing evidence shows that, by engaging with the study of humanities during their training, students feel more confident in how to help patients, as well as having greater knowledge of their own ways of thinking and feeling.”

Miriam, whose Masters year began with a spell in Rwanda studying written trauma narrative from the genocide, commented: “The intercalated MA has, in effect, challenged my ‘scientific comfort zone’. I therefore commence my experience in clinical medicine with increased scepticism. But that scepticism should not be confused with outright cynicism. It rather reflects a great fascination about the way we, as students, are taught to practise medicine. I am more self-conscious about the way I perceive, and am perceived by, our patients.

“But just as importantly, the benefit to be derived from medical humanities involves a reciprocal exchange between the arts and medicine. It is increasingly accepted that humanities probably adds value to medical training, but it is also true that the insights gained through medical training and practice could positively benefit humanities research efforts, in regard to medicine, health and illness. I view my clinical experience as an opportunity to formulate questions of clinical relevance which might be amenable to arts-based methods of investigation.”

Miriam, who graduated with Distinction, has now secured an academic foundation post in child and family psychiatry and will be working with asylum seekers, furthering her interest in trauma studies. This builds upon her MA research regarding trauma narratives from Rwanda.

One challenge Miriam Gent had to overcome before she could embark on the Medical Humanities Masters course was that of funding. She is hopeful this might improve as courses become better known, and said: “The recent interest paid to medical humanities initiatives by some large funding bodies raises the hope and expectation that increasing sums of money will help students to take advantage of these new and exciting training pathways.

“I am very grateful to the Loughborough Welfare Trusts and the Sir Andrew Martin Trust for Young People, who part-funded my fees for this course.”

Dr Lazarus said: “As Miriam’s success has shown, students can be capable of Masters level study after three years of studying medicine, even though they have not previously graduated. This course provides a valuable and unique opportunity for the enhancement of medical training.”

More information on Medical Humanities at Leicester can be found on: www.le.ac.uk/arts/grad/hum/