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The Usefulness of the Humanities in Teaching Pharmacology

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Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement

Part of the book series: New Paradigms in Healthcare ((NPH))

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Abstract

Advances in scientific knowledge during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries resulted in the disassociation of the humanities from the sciences. The medical sciences were no exception. However, recent decades have seen a growing interest in closing the breach between medicine and the humanities as well as a growing recognition of the usefulness of the humanities in educating future health sciences professionals. In this chapter, we discuss different ways in which the humanities can enrich the teaching of pharmacology, a critical discipline for health sciences students. Humanistic disciplines can provide essential context that can help students understand pharmacology holistically. We give some examples of how linguistics, literature, history, painting, music, feature films, and television series can help students appreciate the personal and social importance of pharmaceuticals. The humanities can be exploited to discuss the different roles that drug therapy can play in different contexts, sometimes in contexts outside strictly medical milieus. In addition, incorporating the humanities into pharmacology classes can increase students’ awareness of patients’ viewpoints and engage students emotionally in ways that may enhance learning. The humanities should be considered an important tool to foster deeper learning in a discipline that is sometimes taught only from a purely scientific perspective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya, Casa de Convalescència. C. Dr. Junyent, Vic, Spain

    Josep E Baños & Elena Guardiola

  2. Chair in Bioethics, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya, Vic, Spain

    Irene Cambra-Badii

  3. Research group on Methodology, Methods, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M3O), Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare, Center for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya, Vic, Spain

    Irene Cambra-Badii

Authors
  1. Josep E Baños
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  2. Irene Cambra-Badii
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  3. Elena Guardiola
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Correspondence to Josep E Baños .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Ourania Varsou

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Baños, J.E., Cambra-Badii, I., Guardiola, E. (2023). The Usefulness of the Humanities in Teaching Pharmacology. In: Varsou, O. (eds) Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement . New Paradigms in Healthcare. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22452-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22452-2_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-22451-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-22452-2

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