According to Shapiro, UCI's Medical Humanities Program has developed over the past six years. Unlike other programs that offer separate humanities courses in drama or poetry, such as Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, the UCI Medical School integrates the humanities into its core courses. We don't want the humanities to be seen as something separate. Shapiro said that the humanities have been integrated into third-year students' medical clerkships. She added that education in humanities might also improve the students' skills to treat patients as individuals.
Humanities emphasizes particularity of experience.
We take one person at a time. Shapiro said that although anecdotal evidence supports a humanities-based curriculum, research garnering quantitative and qualitative evidence justifying it is still emerging. Very few people have tried to evaluate the effects of humanities' exposure because it's hard to measure these qualities. One concern, she said, is that including humanities in the curriculum might take too much time. Some people question whether the humanities can do what they claim they can do.