title: Medical professionalism: what the study of literature can contribute to the conversation.
abstract: Medical school curricula, although traditionally and historically dominated by science, have generally accepted, appreciated, and welcomed the inclusion of literature over the past several decades. Recent concerns about medical professional formation have led to discussions about the specific role and contribution of literature and stories. In this article, we demonstrate how professionalism and the study of literature can be brought into relationship through critical and interrogative interactions based in the literary skill of close reading. Literature in medicine can question the meaning of "professionalism" itself (as well as its virtues), thereby resisting standardization in favor of diversity method and of outcome. Literature can also actively engage learners with questions about the human condition, providing a larger context within which to consider professional identity formation. Our fundamental contention is that, within a medical education framework, literature is highly suited to assist learners in questioning conventional thinking and assumptions about various dimensions of professionalism.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine and Director of the Program in Medical Humanities & Arts, University of California-Irvine, School of Medicine, 101 City Dr. South, Rte 81, Bldg 200, Ste 835, Orange, CA, 92868, USA. jfshapir@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Division of Ethics and Humanities, University of South Florida School of Medicine, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA. lnixon@health.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Lois L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Healthcare, Departments of Medicine, Gynecology-Obstetrics, and Philosophy, University at Buffalo SUNY School of Medicine, Buffalo, NY, USA. wear@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wear
authors.affiliation: William Ray Moore Endowed Chair of Family Medicine and Medical Humanism, and Division of Medical Humanism and Ethics, Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, University of Louisville, 2301S 3rd St, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA. david.doukas@louisville.edu.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Doukas
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D000068616:Professionalism