The teaching of medical history is usually included in the program of medical humanities courses available for undergraduate medical students. The role of medical humanities in medical education responds to the need of connecting medical practice with the human dimension of doctor-patient relationship and extra-scientifc values involved in clinical decision-making processes. Medical humanities contribute to improve a fuller understanding of patients, cultures and communities, as well as the social dimension of scientific enterprise to cure illnesses and develop new therapies.
The responsibility of educators involved in medical humanities teaching programs is showing to the students that medical history is a great opportunity for evidence-based medical practice because it improves cross-cultural interventions and, at the same time, promote a continuing reform of health care provision.
Our project represents an alternative model of medical history provision and an attempt to overcome the gap between clinical practice and historical perspective of medical humanities, through the representation of the historical scenarios and the integration of historical evidences in specific educational contents.
Project Aim
The ALCMAEON project aims to innovate the teaching of medical history with a new educational approach, the object-based learning, and to work in a better integration of historical, ethical and psychosocial components of medical humanities.
The project will develop a digital museum teaching platform with audio- visual materials and digitalized collections of medical museums from Italy, Spain, Greece, Netherlands and Romania, in an attempt to promote the different traditions characterizing European medical history and bring medical museums in the classroom.
Target Groups
The project foresees an active participation of experts, that is doctors and university lecturers in humanities in medicine and medical students.
Expected Results
- Improve the quality of the teaching of medical history in the course medical humanities at medical schools.
- Promote the object-based learning approach among medical students.
- Promote the university collection of objects available in medical museum and recover their pedagogical role.
- Promote the legitimacy of historical discourse through the authenticity of the object and their values as primary sources.
- Promoting science literacy through the expansion of museum object interpretation and the extension of learner knowledge.
- Give back the relevance of medical history through object-based learning methodological approach.
Partnership
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid – Spain
- University of Bristol – United Kingdom
- Pixel – Associazione Culturale – Italy
- Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis – Greece
- Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza – Italy
- Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie Grigore T.popa Iasi -Romania
- Fundatia Euroed – Romania
For information please contact
Prof. Emanuele Valenti
Senior Research Associate in Health Care Population Health Sciences
Bristol Medical School – University of Bristol – UK
emanuele.valenti@bristol.ac.uk
