Teaching
Intercalated degrees
Intercalated BSc Med Sci/Dent Sci (Honours) Medical Humanities
Members of the MHRC have played a key role in developing medical humanities curriculum for medical and dental students at the University of Glasgow via an intercalated degree in the medical humanities. This programme begin 2013/14 and was designed and initially convened by Dr Gavin Miller. Subsequently the programme has also been convened by Dr Megan Coyer and Dr Dahlia Porter.
The degree is normally taken after three years of full-time undergraduate study in medicine OR dentistry. It consists of one year of full-time study in compulsory and elective courses.
The intercalated programme is an opportunity for BOTH MBChB and BDS students to develop their medical and professional expertise through a sustained encounter with the understanding of medical and health related topics developed within the traditions of the arts and social sciences.
Former students have praised the course for the following reasons:
- an opportunity to experience a different style of learning
- being able to personally select a range of different courses according to your interests
- the enthusiasm and support of the teaching staff, drawn from many different Subject areas
- giving students the confidence and ability to constructively criticize medicine "from the outside"
- being beneficial in revealing the humanity and frailty of both patients and doctors
The BSc (MedSci)/(DentSci) Honours in Medical Humanities programme consists of the first three years of the MBChB programme, or the first four years of the BDS programme, followed by one full-time intercalating year in Medical Humanities. Admission to the programme is at the discretion of the College of Arts & Humanities. Students are strongly advised to have taken relevant SSCs in order to have acquired some experience of the arts, humanities, and/or social sciences. Students wishing to intercalate in the medical humanities are advised to contact the Programme Convener as early as possible in their second semester. This will allow an opportunity to discuss the suitability of the programme, and the availability of any desired courses.
The current programme convener is Dr Megan Coyer.
External applicants may apply to entry for either programme; interested parties should contact the Programme Convener in the first instance.
Students will have the opportunity to learn from a diverse range of subjects within the Colleges of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences in order to construct a package of Honours courses suitable to their own particular needs and interests. A mandatory medical humanities dissertation gives the opportunity for an extended investigation of a medical or health related topic.
The intercalating year consists of compulsory and elective elements TO A TOTAL OF 120 CREDITS.
Compulsory (50 OR 60 credits):
An Introduction to Medical and Health Humanities (20 credits)
Medical Humanities Dissertation (30 OR 40 credits)
Elective (70 OR 60 credits):
Elective courses to a minimum of 70 OR 60 credits from medical and/or health related courses in the Colleges of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences.
Student Selected Components
A variety of Student Selected Components are also available to medical students within the University of Glasgow, and these are another opportunity to engage with the medical humanities. A number of taught courses in this area are offered by core members of the MHRC (e.g. Dr Sheila Dickson's SSC European Narratives of Illness). The MHRC also brokers supervision for students on self-proposed modules (with, e.g., Dr Gavin Miller having supervised a project on the religious dimensions of counselling and psychotherapy). Full details of SSC opportunities.