Physician Writer - Anglophone Associations

Anglophone Associations

In the Anglophone world, the lead has been taken by New York University (NYU) with their encyclopedic Literature, Arts & Medicine Database (http://litmed.med.nyu.edu) and blog (http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/blog/). An associated resource is the Medical Humanities directory: http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/directory.html.

These sites were established in 1994 at the New York University School of Medicine and were:

“dedicated to providing a resource for scholars, educators, students, patients, and others who are interested in the work of medical humanities. We define the term ‘medical humanities’ broadly to include an interdisciplinary field of humanities (literature, philosophy, ethics, history and religion), social science (anthropology, cultural studies, psychology, sociology), and the arts (literature, theater, film, and visual arts) and their application to medical education and practice. The humanities and arts provide insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood, our responsibility to each other, and offer a historical perspective on medical practice. Attention to literature and the arts helps to develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy, and self-reflection -- skills that are essential for humane medical care. The social sciences help us to understand how bioscience and medicine take place within cultural and social contexts and how culture interacts with the individual experience of illness and the way medicine is practiced.”

Dr. Daniel Bryant, an American internist, has compiled an extensive list of fellow physician writers which can be accessed at http://hsl.med.nyu.edu/bryant/ or at http://members.aol.com/dbryantmd/index.html?f=fs

The Johns Hopkins University Press publishes Literature and Medicine, “a journal devoted to exploring interfaces between literary and medical knowledge and understanding. Issues of illness, health, medical science, violence, and the body are examined through literary and cultural texts.”

The British Medical Association keeps an updated, though selective, list of Physician-Writers on its web site: http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/LIBDoctorWriters