3 answers
Soyun
Student
Lawrenceville, Georgia
1
Question
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What are skills in humanities that the those in the healthcare field may desire?
I am a senior applying to college as a pre-med student, hoping to become a doctor. I wanted to know skills in social science or humanities that are valued in the healthcare field.
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3 answers
Evan Young
Respiratory therapist
9
Answers
Seguin, Texas
Updated
Evan’s Answer
Hi,
I would suggest classes that cover a wide variety of cultures and that you will have to do presentations in front of people. Understanding other peoples backgrounds or why they have specific concerns in a healthcare setting in invaluable and could really set you up for success depending on the type of doctor you want to become. Learning to present information is also a big part of the healthcare field. I’m not a doctor but I regularly have to answer questions from doctors, nurses and patients often with an audience. One of the things I see first year doctors (interns) struggle with is confidently presenting patients during rounds and answering questions posed to them. Theater could greatly help in this regard.
I would suggest classes that cover a wide variety of cultures and that you will have to do presentations in front of people. Understanding other peoples backgrounds or why they have specific concerns in a healthcare setting in invaluable and could really set you up for success depending on the type of doctor you want to become. Learning to present information is also a big part of the healthcare field. I’m not a doctor but I regularly have to answer questions from doctors, nurses and patients often with an audience. One of the things I see first year doctors (interns) struggle with is confidently presenting patients during rounds and answering questions posed to them. Theater could greatly help in this regard.
Thank you for the advice, Evan! I will take this in mind and likely work on these skills wherever I go as well. I remember taking a cultural diversity class during dual enrollment, and I am reminded of its importance. Again, thank you!
Soyun
Michelle M.
Actress
3276
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Soyun !
There are a long list of subjects that are considered to be the Humanities and none of them have anything to do with a "pre-med" path or preparing for Medical School.
The Humanities are subjects such as music, the arts, history, language, literature, cultural, ethnic and gender studies, writing, speech, and philosophy to name some. It's good that you're asking this question before choosing a major because for your Bachelors degree, you will need to major in a subject connected to the pre-med path like Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, etc. - a life science, not Humanities. A degree in humanities would not prepare you for your Medical School entrance exam - the MCAT.
When taking a humanities class, which you can do to fulfill a Required General Education course at your collage, there are not many skill-oriented subjects, but perhaps you can take a writing or language course. The healthcare field varies as to what they value for various careers, so if you are pre-med, planning to be a doctor, you really should focus on life sciences and learning how to do Lab work for your science courses. That is what healthcare values and what medical schools will expect of its students. The medical profession values strong knowledge of the human body and the ability to understand the work.
My advice is to explore what being a doctor is about and choose as many pre-requisites for medical school while you are working on your Bachelors Degree. Medical is straight forward and leans heavily on analytical skills, communications skills as they apply to medicine, not history or music or art. But like I said, most colleges have at least one required general education course that you can choose and select a Humanities.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
There are a long list of subjects that are considered to be the Humanities and none of them have anything to do with a "pre-med" path or preparing for Medical School.
The Humanities are subjects such as music, the arts, history, language, literature, cultural, ethnic and gender studies, writing, speech, and philosophy to name some. It's good that you're asking this question before choosing a major because for your Bachelors degree, you will need to major in a subject connected to the pre-med path like Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, etc. - a life science, not Humanities. A degree in humanities would not prepare you for your Medical School entrance exam - the MCAT.
When taking a humanities class, which you can do to fulfill a Required General Education course at your collage, there are not many skill-oriented subjects, but perhaps you can take a writing or language course. The healthcare field varies as to what they value for various careers, so if you are pre-med, planning to be a doctor, you really should focus on life sciences and learning how to do Lab work for your science courses. That is what healthcare values and what medical schools will expect of its students. The medical profession values strong knowledge of the human body and the ability to understand the work.
My advice is to explore what being a doctor is about and choose as many pre-requisites for medical school while you are working on your Bachelors Degree. Medical is straight forward and leans heavily on analytical skills, communications skills as they apply to medicine, not history or music or art. But like I said, most colleges have at least one required general education course that you can choose and select a Humanities.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
Thank you for the time you took for my question! I appreciated the advice you gave about my STEM focus and pre-requisites. I understand they are extremely important. I am currently pursuing Molecular Biology and will be continuing my scientific research throughout college as well. Thanks!
Soyun
You are welcome for the advice ! Your plans sound awesome !
Michelle M.
Mark Mudano
Orthopaedic Surgery
7
Answers
Evans, Georgia
Updated
Mark’s Answer
Once again, if you want to become a doctor and what is expected of any physician when he starts to see patients, you must remember that just like your patient , you too are a human being. So, you must not lose your humanistic traits just because you went to med school for 4 years and then spend 4-5 more years in residency before you're alone seeing you own patients. Communication skills , your ability to make patients feel easy around you because you are going to have to do a good history on the patients problem, and THEN you must do a very good physical exam , and not rely ONLY on lab reports or MRI views or other various tests that we have in medicine these days. You actually have to know how to make the patient feel comfortable while you are placing your hands on the body of the patient and this has a vast impact because depending on what the patient is seeing you about , that area has to be examined by actually placing your hands on the area in question and knowing which physical exam tests you must do, because medicine is all about the diagnosis. A treatment plan cannot be designed until you have done a good physical exam of the patient. Also , many young doctors today make the huge mistake of using the BIG words we have for describing the anatomy or the disease process, instead of using words that almost anyone especially uneducated patients can understand. In other words DON'T use big words when speaking with any patient no matter what their educational background may be. And then you have to place your hands on the patient's body especially the area where the problem is coming from. This is what I see all the time when patients come to me , they say " well, Dr. Mudano the last doctor I went to , he came in the room and introduced himself but he didn't shake my hand like you did; Then He sat down and flipped open his laptop and began typing away ignoring me while I sat on the exam table for almost 20 minutes. Then he finally said , " well, do you want to see your xray ?" and so he turns the lap top around so the patient can see the xray and he uses alot of big words when explaining the xray picture but none of it made any sense because he used big medical words that I did NOT understand and I'm an educated person "
Then the next words out of the doctor's mouth were , " well, when do you want to have surgery?" !! There was no discussion of any options for the treatment and you must always allow the patient to be part of the decision-making process . Now there are some diagnoses that may require ONLY a certain procedure such as surgery, which may be the only real treatment ... but my point is , there are many, many times several treatment methods that will lead to the same and good outcome and it is important for the patient to have an imput on this decision. So you must always try to include the patients thoughts and wishes by helping him make this decision and always include him in the decision-making process.
Then the next words out of the doctor's mouth were , " well, when do you want to have surgery?" !! There was no discussion of any options for the treatment and you must always allow the patient to be part of the decision-making process . Now there are some diagnoses that may require ONLY a certain procedure such as surgery, which may be the only real treatment ... but my point is , there are many, many times several treatment methods that will lead to the same and good outcome and it is important for the patient to have an imput on this decision. So you must always try to include the patients thoughts and wishes by helping him make this decision and always include him in the decision-making process.
That was an extremely in depth and insightful response. Thank you so much, Mark for providing your response. I will most definitely keep this in mind as I go into internships or shadowing experiences.
Soyun