Medical Humanities Commons^™

Adolescent And Young Adult Cancer Survivorship: Supportive Care Needs, Resources, And Barriers, Allison Bryn Koplos

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors experience unique physical, psychosocial, developmental, and healthcare-related challenges that often persist beyond treatment completion. Although survivorship resources have expanded, gaps in supportive care needs persist. This scoping review examined the supportive care needs, survivorship resources, and barriers to accessing supportive care among AYA cancer survivors.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the Arksey and O'Malley framework and reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and 2026 was identified through searches in PubMed and Google Scholar. Studies examining supportive care needs, survivorship resources, or supportive care services …

Contemplative Pause: Practice As Pedagogy In A Liberal Arts Classroom, Sienna R. Craig, Sid Babla, Abbey Savin

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This article discusses the integration of contemplative pedagogies – including but not limited to yoga nidra – into two case study courses at an elite private liberal arts institution. We begin by describing the structure, context, and nature of this experiment in contemplative pedagogy, considering this experiment in the context of what we call the “liberal arts promise” at a moment of heightened mental health crises across institutions of higher education and increasing public skepticism about the value(s) of higher education. The article takes as a starting point the idea that building forms of contemplative pause into the fabric of …

Pharmacovigilance As An Act Of Awareness And Mindfulness, Mahima Silas, Hale Z. Toklu

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The term “pharmacovigilance” defines the activities related to the collection, detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention of adverse reactions due to pharmaceuticals. While it is often framed as a technical and regulatory discipline, it can also be understood through a more reflective lens as a form of mindfulness practice. At its core, pharmacovigilance requires a way of thinking that closely mirrors mindfulness, including sustained attention, openness to uncertainty, and deep awareness of human experience. Viewing pharmacovigilance in this way reframes it not just as a safety mechanism, but as a thoughtful, patient-centered approach to medicine.

Development And Implementation Of A Scholarly Curriculum For Internal Medicine Residents And Subspecialty Fellows, Yuri Matusov, Hawas Kaderi, Liza Raffi, Louie Cao, Jacqueline Lee, Mariko Ishimori, Odelia Cooper

Graduate Medical Education Research Journal

Background. To create and assess the efficacy of a standardized curriculum for trainees in the core competency of critical appraisal of medical literature.

Methods. We implemented a 10-hour scholarly lecture curriculum, in 1-hour blocks, over 1 academic year for postgraduate trainees in internal medicine (IM) and IM subspecialties at a single major academic medical center. The aims of the curriculum were to increase trainee comfort with clinical research methodology, to place this methodology in the context of historical and current ethical challenges, to provide trainees with guidance on how to conduct clinical research at the institutional level, and to provide …

Use Of The Well-Star Model And Well-Star Graphic In Healthcare, Fidan Korkut-Owen, Zubeyde Akpakir, Dean W. Owen

Journal of Wellness

No abstract provided.

Narrative Medicine: Essays On Health And Care Vol 2, Robert B. Hackey, Will Toner, Megan Lessard, Jessica A. Smith, Glorimar De Los Santos Mejia, Jillian M. Spinali, Paige M. Daly, Brianna De La Fuente, Julia M. Renzelmann, Clare C. Diffin

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Robert Hackey

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

No abstract provided.

Listening To Patients, Michael Stout Md

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

No abstract provided.

Paralyzed, Paige M. Daly

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

This essay was written for Dr. Simal’s Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions course at Providence College, which invited students to reflect on personal experiences with healthcare. Students shared their narratives in English and Spanish to reach a broader audience and highlight the importance of empathy and listening in healthcare. About the course: Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions aims not only to develop the language skills and medical vocabulary necessary to facilitate communication between future health professionals and the Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, but also to explore the historical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of healthcare in Latin America and …

Just A Stomachache, Jillian M. Spinali

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

This essay was written for Dr. Simal’s Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions course at Providence College, which invited students to reflect on personal experiences with healthcare. Students shared their narratives in English and Spanish to reach a broader audience and highlight the importance of empathy and listening in healthcare. About the course: Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions aims not only to develop the language skills and medical vocabulary necessary to facilitate communication between future health professionals and the Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, but also to explore the historical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of healthcare in Latin America and …

Entre Inglés Y Español (Between English And Spanish): My Father’Sfight For Understanding, Glorimar De Los Santos Mejia

Narrative Medicine: Essays on Health and Care

This essay was written for Dr. Simal’s Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions course at Providence College, which invited students to reflect on personal experiences with healthcare. Students shared their narratives in English and Spanish to reach a broader audience and highlight the importance of empathy and listening in healthcare. About the course: Intermediate Spanish for Health Professions aims not only to develop the language skills and medical vocabulary necessary to facilitate communication between future health professionals and the Spanish-speaking communities in the United States, but also to explore the historical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of healthcare in Latin America and …

Bare Bones Medicine: A Young Physician Adapts To An Island Medical Practice, Chuck Radis

Faculty Publications

This is the story of Dr. Radis's introduction to his new job as an island physician in Maine.

A Mixed Methods Study Of Inpatients’ Experiences, Priorities, And Health-Related Quality Of Life During High- Flow Nasal Cannula Therapy, Cintamani H. Ellsworth, Rebecca S. Bartlett

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is an oxygen delivery method with numerous benefits for severely ill patients. There is a paucity of research focused on the perspectives of patients receiving HFNC oxygen therapy. This study aimed to engage with patients to gain a clearer understanding of their experiences, priorities, and health-related quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was completed with 10 adult inpatients who had received HFNC oxygen therapy during their hospital admission. Semi-structured interviews and the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health Scale were used to identify participant perceptions of their physical and …

Vermillion, Saptarshi Biswas

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The sky is vermilion, and the sand below mirrors its hue—a seamless union of heaven and earth in the waning light. The setting sun spills its final radiance across the world, as if reluctant to surrender to night. In this mirrored brilliance lies a quiet truth about human life: that our final moments often reflect the sum of all that came before, casting meaning backward, tinting memory with the soft, forgiving glow of closure.

Just as the sand borrows its color from the sky, so too do our lives borrow significance from what we love, what we lose, and what …

Psychological Adaptation In Colorectal Cancer Survivors: Pilot Study Findings, Anuja L. Sarode, Emily M. Su, Amber Kerstetter-Fogle, Steve Paciorek, Erica L. Laipply

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

In this pilot study, we examined psychological impacts of colorectal cancer (CRC), focusing on cancer-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CR-PTSD) symptoms, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and their relationship with coping strategies in surgically treated CRC patients.

Methods

This prospective pre- and postoperative pilot study assessed CRC patients at 2 time points, pre- and postoperative. Psychological symptoms were evaluated using the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PCL-5) and the PTG Inventory Short Form (PTGI-SF). Coping strategies were assessed using the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) instrument. Changes in CR-PTSD, PTG, and coping …

A Language We Built Together: A Physician Assistant’S Reflection On A Renal Transplant, Oviya Mahendran, Sampathkumar Sakthi Selvakumar

Journal of Wellness

This is not just a story of kidney transplantation in a tertiary care hospital in a tier-2 city of South India. It is all about a true clinical journey of resilience, where a young woman with congenital hearing loss, battling chronic kidney disease, discovered hope, understanding, and companionship through a physician assistant's compassionate communication.

Artificial Intelligence And Social Equities: Navigating The Intersectionalities In A Digital Age (Editorial), Daisuke Akiba, Julie Albright

Publications and Research

This editorial article introduces and synthesizes the Special Issue, “Artificial intelligence and social equities: navigating the intersectionalities in a digital age,” which examines how AI systems intersect with race, ethnicity, and interconnected identity dimensions across global contexts. The eight contributions span healthcare, digital media, higher education, organizational communication, and speculative futures, addressing anti-racist psychiatric algorithms, AI-generated visual disinformation, epistemic injustice between the Global North and South, algorithmically mediated rural–urban divides, culturally untranslated technology transfer, accessibility auditing across the AI lifecycle, and the tension between mechanical objectivity and empathic understanding. Read together, they show that AI is neither inherently …

Medical Tourism Patient Guidance: A Content Analysis Of Risk Reduction Guidelines Available To Global Health Seekers., Alicia Mason, Angela Ashmore

Faculty Submissions

This study examines medical tourism (MT) patient guidance messages intended to reduce procedural risks—those directly related to biomedical treatments—and process risks, which involve logistical, administrative, and interpersonal challenges of seeking healthcare abroad. The analysis focuses on print and digital publications authored by individuals independent of the MT industry, including policy researchers, travel health experts, lifestyle reporters, and consumer-focused medical travel writers. Using a two-phase digital and database search strategy, 27 publications from 2009 to 2024 were identified and analyzed using exploratory content analysis methods. Findings reveal important differences in the scope and depth of guidance aimed at reducing risks for …

“Caring Makes Students Learn English More Easily And Enthusiastically”: Exploring The Emotional And Academic Outcomes Of Experiencing Teacher Care In Medical Sciences University Efl Classes In Iran, Kiyana Zhaleh, Shima Azizbeigi

The Qualitative Report

Previous research on teacher care in university second/foreign language (L2) classes have primarily concentrated on non-medical sciences students, resulting in a lack of insights into its effects in medical sciences education. This is surprising considering the field-specific challenges of medical sciences education, potentially influencing teacher caring behaviors in this context. Addressing this gap, this qualitative study employed the emotional response theory (ERT) and positive psychology to explore how Iranian medical sciences undergraduates perceive teacher care in university EFL classes, how they emotionally respond to it, and how their experiences of care impacted their academic outcomes. In this descriptive qualitative research …

Piloting Research In Action: To Act Or Not To Act?, Kosi Okuagu, Lauren Yan, Emily A. Hurley

Posters

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Impacts Of Research Including Zealous Genz-Ers (Rizz), Afraah Hawa, Andrea Bradley-Ewing Mpa, Ma, Kimberly A. Randell, Md, Msc, Yesenia Montoya, Karynn E. Glover

Posters

No abstract provided.

Using Mask-Making To Foster Growth Mindset And Address Implicit Bias, Nazeh Saad, Rima Charara, Jennifer Mendez, Dena Nazer

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: Implicit biases, defined as unconscious attitudes influencing clinical decisions, can negatively affect patient care and contribute to health care disparities. Growth mindset—the belief that abilities can be developed through effort—encourages learners to view biases as modifiable rather than fixed. The mask expression project is an educational activity designed to foster growth mindset in first-year medical students and promote patient-centered care.

Methods: Three hundred five (305) first-year medical students completed the project during a service-learning course. Students wrote or drew on a paper mask template divided into two halves: one side challenged identified implicit biases; the other depicted actions …

Wellness Literature Review – 2025, Martin Huecker, Brian A. Ferguson

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Clinician well-being remains a persistent challenge, with ongoing burnout and psychological distress despite efforts by systems and individuals. This Journal of Wellness annual review covers studies published in 2025.

Methods: The Editors searched PubMed and Google Scholar for prospective and interventional studies / clinical trials in humans, with focus on well-being. Authors utilized artificial intelligence (AI)–based large language model (LLM) (ChatGPT, OpenAI^TM) to assist with preliminary identification of relevant studies, however authors noted significant AI-associated errors and outright misrepresentations requiring hand curated product generation and manual PubMed searches.

Literature in Review: We continue to appreciate a shift …

Phenomenological Analysis Of Trust In Science For The Design Of Ai-Based Health And Social Policies, Kochav Koren

All Duquesne Faculty Scholarship

The promises of artificial intelligence (AI) as a solution to challenges facing health systems increasingly link technological innovation with improvements in efficiency and access. However, the legitimacy of AI-supported health policies depends not only on scientific competence but also on public trust in scientific institutions. Using data from the international Trust in Science Project (71,922 respondents across 68 countries), this study analyses multidimensional trust and communication ecologies to reconstruct relational configurations of trust, termed ‘Figures of Relevance’. Findings reveal that whilst scientific competence is widely recognised, perceptions of institutional openness vary markedly, shaping heterogeneity in trust. The study identifies four …

Ecorxchoice.Com— An Sidp-Funded Calculator Integrating Environmental Metrics With Antimicrobial Stewardship, Pamela S. Lee, Hugh Gordon, Theresa Ferguson, Tien Dinh, Misty Vu, Marina Nguyen, Chaynor Hsiao, Gary Fong

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Healthcare sustainability is a multidisciplinary field that seeks to mitigate healthcare’s environmental consequences. Antimicrobial stewardship and healthcare sustainability both aim to reduce wasteful resource use while maximizing patient safety. However, a strong partnership between antimicrobial stewardship and healthcare sustainability has yet to develop. To facilitate environmentally sustainable decision-making in antimicrobial prescribing, we developed a web-based calculator (EcoRxChoice (www.ecorxchoice.com)) where users can enter different antimicrobial regimens and compare how much plastic waste each regimen creates. This work was supported in part by the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP), reflecting SIDP’s commitment to strengthening sustainability as a practical extension of antimicrobial …

Emotional Intelligence Documentary - What Remains: Medical Humanities Perspectives From Madrid And Toledo, Spain, Samantha N. Lara

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence through the Humanities in Spain

What Remains is a documentary inspired by a Medical/Health Humanities study abroad experience in Madrid and Toledo, Spain. Through museums, historic architecture, poetry, and everyday life, the film examines how human beings leave traces of themselves long after they are gone. Drawing on course themes including Plural Truths, Reason and its Discontents, The Renaissance Self, and Fragmented Modernity, the documentary explores how art and literature preserve experiences of suffering, identity, memory, and human connection. Works by Antonio Machado, Francisco de Quevedo, Francisco Goya, El Greco, and Diego Velázquez serve as lenses through which to examine the enduring nature of human …

Emotional Intelligence Documentary - Madrid: La Enseñanza Del Poder, Karla I. Jimenez-Valencia

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence through the Humanities in Spain

El documental Madrid: La Enseñanza del Poder es una reflexión sobre el poder, incluyendo el abuso de poder, la opresión, la desigualdad y el sufrimiento de las personas causado por quienes actúan con avaricia y buscan mantener su autoridad.

En el documental hablo del poder de la monarquía española y cómo el Palacio Real de Madrid representa un símbolo de esta inmensa autoridad. Igualmente, tocó el tema de cómo esta riqueza no está distribuida de manera equitativa y como se ve esta distribución en la sociedad actual.

También, discuto la dictadura de Francisco Franco y la Guerra Civil Española y …

Reading Burney’S Mastectomy Letter: Presentist Thinking And Personal Responses In The Classroom, Heather Meek

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Frances Burney’s mastectomy letter, in its graphic and detailed depiction of the operation she underwent without anesthetic in 1811, does not always lend itself immediately to standard, scholarly classroom discussion. It tends, rather, to incite unusually intimate responses, as well as conversations about medicine and health today. In my teaching of the letter in literature courses at Université de Montréal over the course of the past 13 years, I have found that students are inclined to seize upon the subject of breast cancer as especially contemporary in its relevance and to share their own anecdotal knowledge of the disease. I …

Diastole, Charlaine Chen

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Diastole is the space between heartbeats. It is in this space that the heart actively rests, refills. These periods of relaxation are what allow the next heartbeat to occur. A heart without diastole is in heart failure. In medical training, we are raised on the myth that constant effort equals devotion, that rest is a luxury. A sense of guilt riddles me when I take a sick day, or when I feel I am not doing enough, fast enough. This work is a meditation on the nature of rhythm, and the rhythm of nature. These quiet spaces are not signs …

Between Rounds And Resolve, Faizan Sheraz

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

“Between Rounds and Resolve” is a narrative poem chronicling the introspective journey of an internist transitioning toward a subspecialty in gastroenterology. Through poetic reflection, the piece captures the emotional cadence of clinical rounds, the quiet resilience forged in patient care, and the evolving sense of purpose that guides a physician toward deeper specialization. This work explores themes of identity, transformation, and professional growth, offering a humanistic lens on the road less traveled within medicine. It aims to resonate with readers, navigating their own paths of change, reaffirming the value of reflection and resolve in shaping a meaningful career in health …