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Literature, Humanities, and the Internist
- Henry Schneiderman, MD; and
- Rosemaria Memoli Schneiderman, BS
- University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030-3950 Requests for Reprints: Henry Schneiderman, MD, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030-3950.
Literature can be intimidating to anybody, certainly to those of us whose backgrounds are largely scientific. But this need not be so. If we dredge our memories, most of us can recall a time, in youth if not since, when we greeted books and stories with anticipation. To do so again is to gain gratification, to participate more fully in the world, and to become a better internist.
The essay by Charon and associates in this issue [1] discusses in considerable and illuminating detail both the formal study of literature in medical schools over the last 23 years and related developments. As worthwhile as the endeavors chronicled by these authors are, many resident and staff internists still feel inadequate as reader-interpreters of novels, poems, and stories. Why is this so, and what can be done about it?
We all carry the weight of our experiences with the worst English teacher to whom we have been exposed, the teacher who foisted such ridiculous but durable notions as that of “figuring out” a poem, of finding the “right” interpretation of it, or, worst of all, of reading as duty …
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
