The Healer’s Art is a medical
school curriculum designed by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., Director of the
Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Commonweal, and Professor of
Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
School of Medicine. It is a 15-hour quarter-long elective that has been taught
annually at UCSF since 1993. It is a 1.0 credit hour course. The course’s
innovative educational strategy is based on a discovery model. The UCSF course
annually draws one-third of the Year I class, and has demonstrated that
curriculum can be transformative as well as informative. The Healer’s Art course
was featured in “U.S. News and World Report Best Graduate Schools” issue for the
2002 school year as an example of excellence in medical education. In addition
to the USCF experience, the course has been successfully replicated at 35
medical schools nationwide. Seven medical schools will commence a pilot course
this academic year.
The Healer’s Art addresses one of the hidden crises in medicine: the growing
loss of meaning and commitment experienced by physicians nationwide under the
stresses of today’s health care system. Among medical educators, the question of
how to stress-proof students to meet the challenges of practice has become
urgent.
The course consists of five three-hour evening sessions spaced two weeks
apart, each divided into large–group and small-group experience.
Course Syllabus
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