Building a bridge with the humanities

How can you help a patient cope with feelings you’ve never felt?

The medical profession is used to dealing with this issue when it comes to pain management. How much does it hurt on a scale of 1-to-10? Does it sting like a mosquito or a wasp? It generally works, in part because we’ve all shared certain pain experiences.

But taking care of the whole patient – body, mind, and spirit – takes true empathy. So how does the childless caregiver relate to the parent of a leukemia patient? How does a healthy, young practitioner know what it feels like to lose your eyesight or start the slow strangle of Alzheimers or cope with the daily struggle of chronic fatigue syndrome?

Two faculty members at the MUSC College of Pharmacy have found one tool that can help – the humanities. Kristy Brittain, associate professor of clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences (CPOS), expanded her Introduction to Pharmacy course last year to include literature and art to help give students insight. For instance, paintings by Van Gogh show the effect of medication on color perception.

This year, Brittain and CPOS colleague Anthony DeClue are using a Scholars of Humanities and Arts Research and Education (SHARE) grant from MUSC’s Office of Humanities to create the foundation for the elective course “Humanities in Pharmacy,” which will develop appreciation in the humanities, expose students to medical humanities with a focus on pharmacy practice, and encourage critical thinking about the role of mixed media and potential influence on healthcare and pharmacy.

“Our students have talents, skills, and interests outside the strict domains of pharmacy and some of those abilities will help them be better pharmacists,” said Dr. Brittain. “The kind of critical thinking, empathy, and self-expression found in the humanities gives them a broader understanding of the world and the ability to connect to the people in it, including their patients.”

This year, 15 students have signed up for “Humanities in Pharmacy Special Project Elective Experience (SPEE) in which they will assist in building a toolkit for the humanities in pharmacy. The SPEE activities include:

• Review of primary literature published on humanities in pharmacy
• Independent learning through reading and viewing of suggested works and writing synopses of their impact on pharmacy practice
• Daily journaling and reflection on stories from Privileged Presence (Liz Crocker & Bev Johnson)
• Group discussions held virtually
• Visit to Gibbes Art Museum
• Creation of a work highlighting the student’s experience (art, poetry, short story, photography) to be included in a showcase held on campus this fall

Brittain and DeClue will use the special project as the foundation for developing the full course elective, which will be offered in the fall of 2021.