"We have to think differently if we want to bring about change"

Medical Humanities, or Health Humanities (as it has come to be called in recent times) is an exploratory field of study that tries to bring perspectives from the humanities, the arts and the social sciences to medical education and practice.

CCDC has been conducting Health Humanities workshops since 2010.

Some major issues around medical education and practice that the workshops bring to the surface are: lack of effective role models, hierarchy and authoritarian behaviour, dehumanisation resulting from separating the human being from the professional, lack of self care, pressure to perform, the slow fading of hope and faith in the profession, etc.

Our workshops highlight the importance of pause and reflection in a profession where both training and practice take place in a highly competitive environment, and where rigid institutional hierarchies, work pressure and social pressures, all combine to adversely affect interactions among doctors, patients , caregivers, medical students and nurses.

The workshops provide a refreshingly new framework for medical students and faculty to work with, by encouraging them to use their bodies, and listen deeply to one another. The ability to listen to what is said as well as what is not said is crucial for the doctor. When participants create images or body shapes of their conflicts in the workshops, they do so in an environment of acceptance and no judgement. They learn the skills of expressing emotions and interpreting emotions as expressed through body images. The experience of expressing their emotions, doubts, and confusions- for many, for the first time in their professional lives- can be powerfully transformative. This internal process of reflection and the movement towards change is the goal of our workshops.