Research

The research project was created with the aim of supporting the Integrated Course in Medical Humanities through the collection of data and the production of scientific evidence. Specifically, the project aims to evaluate the impact of the integrated course and individual modules on medical students. It also aims to collect feed-back and suggestions from students to improve the course's educational offerings by orienting them to the training needs of students.

The first phase of the research project focused on the reasons why medical students choose to take Medical Humanities elective courses. The survey revealed that students choose these courses not only because they have an interest in the humanities, but also because they believe that Medical Humanities can help them improve their personal skills. It seems that students' psychological well-being has an affinity with this choice...

The second phase of the research project was devoted to analysing the students' satisfaction with the Medical Humanities courses and collecting their feedback.  The survey revealed that students were very satisfied with the courses they had attended, due to their great educational value. It also showed that students find the courses useful for their personal, professional and social growth. The students asked us to increase the number of workshop activities and to give them the chance to experiment on real patients the techniques learnt during the courses.

The third phase of the research project is aimed at evaluating the effects of individual Medical Humanities modules on students' well-being and skills. Data collection started in the academic year 2022-2023 and will continue until the academic year 2025-2026.

In the academic year 2024-2025, a spin-off of the Vertical Course in Medical Humanities was pilot tested, dedicated to the exploration of various forms of contact. The spin-off includes 6 experiential workshops aimed at exploring the patient perspective in different contact actions, both physical and visual.