Literature and Medicine, Emory University

Chekhov wrote in a letter to a friend that “Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.” This course will introduce students to the study of medicine through the lens of great literature, and students will benefit from exposure to both disciplines. Such a course encourages students in medical school to think of medicine in terms of the human condition: suffering, personhood, and responsibility to each other, as well as a historical perspective on medicine. Studying medicine in close connection with literature and the arts helps to develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy, and self-reflection – all essential for understanding and practicing humane medical care. The elective will focus on literature that considers medical topics – including disease, healing, and death. The course will consider the work of many gifted writers who are physicians, as well as other great writers who consider important medical topics. This course is dedicated to poet and cardiologist, Dr. John Stone, and honors his fine work at Emory both in medicine and literature. Dr. Stone was a physician/poet and consummate humanist. Elective only. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.