Medical Humanities in the Middle East
The 1st International Conference on Medical Humanities in the Middle East invites proposals for oral presentations and posters on the topics of narrative medicine, medical sociology, philosophy of medicine, medical ethics and narrative ethics, literature and medicine, history of medicine and other humanistic initiatives in medicine occurring in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In order to develop more human-oriented physicians and to understand more fully the human dimension of disease, the emerging field of medical humanities is increasingly being integrated into medical education internationally. These interdisciplinary efforts attempt to address the sociological, economic, philosophical and ethical issues that doctors, patients, families and society at large must face which go beyond the more technical aspects of medicine such as diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics. A growing evidence base indicates that humanistic approaches to healthcare improve patient outcomes, contribute to better compliance and better provider-patient relations, and reduce medical error and liability. In addition, Expressive Arts Therapies, such as Music, Art, Narrative, and Play Therapies, use the arts themselves as a healing practice.
According to Rabie E. Abdel-Halim and Khaled M. AlKattan of Alfaisal and King Saud Universities in Riyadh, “it is very crucial to strike a harmonious balance between the two major branches of knowledge; namely, natural sciences and technology in one hand and social sciences and humanities in the other. The importance of striking a harmonious balance is increasingly felt to match with the growing detrimental effects of the already well-established and strong-rooted materialism. We have to be able to produce not only [medical] graduates with great mental and intellectual capability but also with strong emotional and spiritual stability.”
The conference will bring together researchers, educators, and practitioners to help define and share best practices in the medical humanities in the Middle East and North Africa region. Currently many of the medical humanities … read more