Responding to the implications of the genetics revolution for the education and training of doctors: a medical humanities approach

Background Rapid advances in the field of genetics continue to present medical educators with significant challenges. Whilst there is undoubtedly a pressing need to educate doctors about genetic disorders, research and therapies, there is a parallel need to provide a context for all of these. Content An interdisciplinary, arts and humanities based approach, responding to this need, is described. This teaching has been successfully delivered both as optional and core undergraduate teaching, and as part of continuing professional development. The human perspective: stories not histories Understanding of the patient's perspective can be significantly improved by drawing on both written and oral stories of illness. The historical perspective: learning from the patient Experiential learning provides insights into the social history of developments in genetics, thereby placing the current concern and debate about the new genetics in context. The role of the media: the power to persuade Critical reading skills can be developed and the power of the popular press to influence the reader acknowledged by analysing and employing the skills of the journalist when reporting developments in biotechnology. Learner assessment and evaluation Assessment, both formative and summative, demonstrates sophisticated insights and perspectives into the lived experience of genetic illness. Learner evaluation of the teaching is high. Conclusion Medical humanities offers a powerful way to convey an understanding of how genetic disorders impact on the lives of patients and families, and to set this against the background of a history rich in the uses, and abuses, of knowledge of heredity.