What It Means to Be a Medical Humanities Scholar: Building a Professional Identity
The field of medical humanities has no clear declaration of the what, why, who, and how, and development of a more cohesive professional identity has received little attention in research. Developing a more cohesive profession is important for continued growth of medical humanities and its scholars and will require collaborative conversation among members of the vast medical humanities community of practice. While each member plays a necessary and important role, not every individual contributing to the community of practice is a more deeply immersed medical humanities scholar. By examining the origins of medical humanities and its current landscape, the medical humanities community may develop a more cohesive narrative and charge moving forward. Once the profession—the declaration of what, why, who, and how—of the inherently applied and publicly engaged field of medical humanities is established, progress towards a shared vision of what a medical humanities scholar can profess and contribute to healthcare and society may be made.
Community of Practice, Identity Development, Meaning Making, Medical Humanities, Professional Identity
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations