Welcome to a Medical Humanities Weblog

Welcome to a new Medical Humanities Weblog.  I say "a" new MH weblog, rather than "the" new MH weblog, because there already exists an excellent MH weblog.  However that blog has a distinctively UK focus, which is what prompted me to begin thinking about whether or not there might be some room for a MH weblog with more of a U.S. focus (of course, this is not to suggest any kind of isolationist blog policy -- collaboration with the international medical humanities community is an important goal for this blog).

In this initial post, let me pause to introduce myself, try to explain some of the rationales for this blog, and the types of posts the readers are likely to see here.

My name is Daniel Goldberg, and I am currently a second-year student in the Ph.D program in medical humanities at University of Texas Medical Branch's Institute for Medical Humanities.  I am also an attorney, and after clerking for a judge and practicing for several years, I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the EDICT ("Eliminating Disparities in Clinical Trials") Project, Chronic Disease Prevention & Control Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine.

What This Blog Will Not Be:

I am happy to report that I undertake this blog project with the blessing of the faculty at both institutions, but I want to be clear that this MH blog will most certainly not be a record of my own personal experiences and perspectives on my training or academic pursuits.  Rather, I envision this weblog being an academic clearinghouse, and hopefully, a network of people and institutions interested in the medical humanities.  Thus, while I have no interest in anonymous blogging, and the thoughts and perspectives presented here will obviously reflect my own (and other authors') opinions and influences, this blog will not be a personal account of the author(s)' experiences.

What this Blog Will Be (Initially):

So, I have tried to explain what this blog will not be.  What is the reader likely to see on this blog, at least initially? T.S. Eliot once remarked that immature poets imitate and mature poets steal.  In that spirit, I am quite unashamed of my intention to "steal" the blogging methodology of Professor Larry Solum's excellent Legal Theory blog.  Specifically, the bulk of the early posts (from me, at least) will fall into one of three categories:

(1)  Literature Review 

One of the more challenging aspects of the medical humanities -- as well as one of its greatest strengths -- is its interdisciplinary nature.  While this interdisciplinarity is significant in a variety of ways, it does tend to make research something of a challenge.  This is mostly because there is obviously no central database, commercial or otherwise, that compiles articles and sources from disciplines as different as philosophy, art, literature, anthropology, sociology, history, and religion, for example.  Thus, one of the primary initial functions of this MH weblog will be to act, in effect, as a literature metacrawler. 

I will periodically (at least twice a month) survey about 20 -25 journals that seem most relevant to the medical humanities, and will compile the abstracts on this blog.  This blog will obviously be searchable, so the hope is that, over time, this blog will serve in part as an index of some of the more recent sources of research and theory in the medical humanities.  There is already a medical humanities database project, and, ideally, this blog will exist as a supplement to that sorely needed database.

In addition, I will survey the Social Science Research Network for manuscripts and articles that are relevant and available.  One of the many advantages of SSRN is that the articles on the website are available for download without a subscription to a commercial database.  Thus, where possible, I will link to SSRN.

(2) Medical Humanities Lexicon

What are the humanities? Where do they come from? How do the humanities relate to medicine? What are the medical humanities? Who is a medical humanist? What, if anything, is the relationship between the medical humanities and bioethics, or between the medical humanities and health policy? What are some of the objectives of the medical humanities? What are some of the objectives of medical humanists?

To be sure, these are important and complicated questions, and I would not dare attempt to answer such questions directly, even assuming any such direct answers are possible.  Rather, following Professor Solum's series of informative and fascinating posts in his Legal Theory Lexicon, the hope is that a Medical Humanities Lexicon may shed some small light on some important questions and topics in the medical humanities (both foundational and current), as well as provoking thought and analysis among interested parties on the values and theory that inform the Lexicon.

(3) Notification of Happenings in the Medical Humanities

While the majority of relevant conferences and workshops are compiled on the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities' website, this blog will hopefully supplement the ASBH's website, and, in so doing, may facilitate networking and information exchange (the ASBH is generally considered the flagship conference for medical humanists).  Thus, again following Professor Solum's lead, this blog will attempt to compile and inform of conferences, workshops, calls for papers, etc., in the medical humanities.

Vision for the Future

It is my sincere hope that, in time, this blog will become a product of a network of collaborators rather than a project of mine.  I see my role mostly as a facilitator, one who gets this project off of the ground.  I want to heartily encourage interested scholars, students, or lay persons to inquire about the possibility of guest blogging, as the quality and utility of this blog depends much more on the discussion and commentary it facilitates in the medical humanities community than on anything I personally bring.  (Note: to discourage spammers and robots, comments will be moderated).

Eventually, if there is sufficient interest, this weblog could even host a blog conference or a blog workshop (both of which are becoming increasingly common in the academic blogosphere) on a medical humanities topic, thereby bringing together parties interested in the medical humanities who might not otherwise have occasion to exchange ideas with ease and efficiency.

So, to wrap up this inaugural post, let me be the first to offer a Texas-sized greeting and welcome, and to thank the medical humanities community in advance.

Comments

[Beverley Kane, MD]

Dr. Goldberg et al -- I arrived at the MH site via my Google Alert for "Doctor-Patient Relationship." Interesting site! You may be interested in a humanities course I teach at Stanford: Medicine & Horsemanship--A Communication Model for the Doctor-Patient Relationship. Using the sensitivity, social hierarchies, and subtle communication habits of horses, we teach interpersonal skills for med students and healthcare professionals.
You can read more about us at
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/august23/med-horses-082306.html

We also teach this course at other med centers. An equine experiential learning practitioner near Baylor contacted me last year about starting a course.

Beverley Kane, MD
bkane1 atstanford dot ee dee yoo

[howard spiro]

just blundered/fell upon your creation, and i am much impressed. wow! howard spiro.