title: [How to teach ballet to a swat?].
abstract: There is increasing interest in including humanities subjects in the medical curriculum, as a means of accelerating students' personal development and of helping them in their meeting with patients, in order to counteract a perceived communication deficit in the health care system. Traditionally, medical schools have favoured students who concentrate on what is most relevant for their exams, possibly at the expense of reflection, idealism and empathy. As medical students in the University of Oslo, we do not feel that the situation is as bad as some claim it is. Most medical students have a wide range of ability and show interest and involvement in their own as well as their patients' situation. Humanities subjects are included in the curriculum, but it is tempting to see them as "spice" added for flavour and spread out over the course with no clear logic behind it. We do not necessarily see the need for more humanities courses, but we do see a need for more critical evaluation of what is taught. Humanities in the medical education should aim not just at improving communication skills, they should also include perspectives on how health care professionals can take of themselves, and put medicine into a wider scientific and historical perspective.
authors.affiliation: Det medisinske fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo. kaholte@studmed.uio.no
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Holte
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Høye
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D006809:Humanities; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology
vernacular_title: Hvordan laere en pugghest å danse ballett?