The Mission of the Department of Medical Humanities is to ensure critical dialog about health, health care and the human condition.

The Department of Medical Humanities at Southern Illinois University offers a curriculum designed to provide medical students with a core knowledge in the humanities, emphasizing application of the content and methodologies of humanities disciplines to the practice of medicine. These humanities disciplines include: ethics, health policy, medical history, medical jurisprudence, psychosocial care, and religious studies.

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Farewell to Ross Silverman, Chair, Department of Medical Humanities

Professor Silverman has taken a position at IUPUI in Indianapolis as of June 1. We wish good fortune to him and his family as they begin their futures there. We will miss them all.

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SIU School of Law 
SIU School of Medicine Dept. of Medical Humanities
Southern Illinois Healthcare/Southern Illinois University
Health Policy Institute

present

The Fifteenth Annual Health Policy Institute


Medical-Legal Partnerships:
Collaborating to Transform Health Care for Vulnerable Patients


Friday, May 17, 2013
9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Dirksen Conference Room
801 N. Rutledge

Videoconferenced from SIU School of Law

CME and CLE credits available

ONLINE REGISTRATION:  https://www.dce.siu.edu/index.php/conferences/283-15th-annual-sih-siu-health-policy-institute

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March 22, 2013

Kevin FitzGerald, SJ, PhD, was the featured speaker for the John and Marsha Ryan Bioethicist-in-Residence lecture this morning. FitzGerald, the Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethics Center for Clinical Bioethics at Gerogetown University, spoke on "Genetic Medicine: Pandora's Box or Prometheus Unchained?" in the South Auditorium at 801 N. Rutledge during the Medical Humanities clerkship for the Year 4 students.

Click here for more information on Dr. FitzGerald.

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October 3, 2012

FACULTY POSITION OPENING:
Assistant/Associate Professor in Medical Sociology, Anthropology or Related Field
Department of Medical Humanities
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, Illinois

The Department of Medical Humanities at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position at the assistant or associate professor level in medical sociology, anthropology or related discipline.  Located in the capital of Illinois, the multi-disciplinary department is part of a School of Medicine with a dynamic and collaborative learning and research environment that is internationally known for its medical education innovations and dedication to problem-based learning. Department faculty, through their teaching, research and service, draw upon expertise in such areas as health policy, law and medicine, ethics, psychosocial care, religious studies, and medical history and literature to foster dialog on health, health care and the human condition.  In addition to contributing to the education of medical students, residents and physicians, the Department is a key contributor to the school’s new MD-M.P.H. concurrent degree program and serves as the medical school home for one of the oldest and most robust M.D./J.D. dual-degree programs in the country. The Department seeks a candidate who can build upon a successful school social mission and develop individual and collaborative educational and research initiatives which would help increase understanding of social determinants of health and improve the health of the people of central and southern Illinois and beyond.  He or she would join the Department on or before fall 2013.

Qualifications for the position include a Doctoral degree in Anthropology, Sociology or related field from a nationally accredited school.  Ideally candidates will have demonstrated experience teaching medical students, health professions students, or small group teaching in other higher education settings and whose research focuses on health inequities and social determinants of health in rural and underserved U.S. communities.

Southern Illinois University is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, religion, national origin or sex in violation of Title VII.  This position is a security-sensitive position and will require a background investigation. Further details about the position, Department and School can be found at:  http://www.siumed.edu/jobs/JOBS/FAJobs-BASICSCIENCE.html

Applicants should mail or e-mail a CV and a letter with a detailed statement of interest and area(s) of expertise to: Ross D. Silverman, J.D., M.P.H., Professor and Chair, Department of Medical Humanities, SIU School of Medicine, 913 N. Rutledge St., Room 1116, P.O. Box 19603, Springfield, IL  62794-9603, or medhumsearch@siumed.edu. Applications will be accepted until January 7, 2013, or until the position is filled.

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September 6, 2012

SIU Med School Offers Concurrent Degree in Medicine, Public Health

Two freshman students are participating in a new concurrent degree program in medicine and public health at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. This program is a joint program of SIU School of Medicine and the SIUC College of Education and Human Services. At the end of the five-year MD/MPH program, students will receive a doctor of medicine degree and a master’s degree in public health.

The MD/MPH program is a combined effort of the SIU Departments of Internal Medicine, Family & Community Medicine and Medical Humanities, said Wiley Jenkins, Ph.D., co-director of the MD/MPH Program in Springfield and research associate professor in family medicine. “Public Health is a growing priority for the School of Medicine,”  said Jenkins. “This program will allow us to educate students about caring for not only individual patients but also about caring for and understanding the health of the community as a whole.”

Stephen Brown, Ph.D., is the co-director  of the program at SIU Carbondale and associate professor of public health education. “The Affordable Care Act is pushing for more cross-section between public health and medicine, so this program fits nicely at the federal level as well as for Illinois.”

The program takes place on both the SIU Carbondale and Springfield campuses. Students will first study a public health curriculum for three semesters in the Department of Health Education and Recreation at SIU Carbondale. Preventive medicine, public health and health policy are among the areas of study. “Future physicians need to have an understanding of how these factors relate to affect the health of the population,” Brown said. “The goal is for the students to be advocates for public health in whatever medical setting they pursue in their careers.”

Following the year of public health training, students will remain in Carbondale during the second year of the program, when they will begin their medical school training. The remaining three years will continue the medical curriculum in Springfield and will include specially-designed electives. A 6-8 week practicum with state and local health departments will be required during the final year of training. The practicum will focus on leadership skills and program planning.

The first students admitted to the program are Stephen Brandt, son of James and Maureen Brandt of Bloomington and Evyn Neumeister, daughter of Dr. Michael and Nadine Neumeister of Springfield.

The program is modeled after SIU School of Medicine’s dual-degree program, the MD/JD program. Upon completing this six-year curriculum, students receive degrees in medicine and law.

(From the Office of Public Affairs)

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The annual Pearson Lecture presented the psychological horror drama, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Aasne Vigesaa performed in and Kevin Percell directed the one-woman adaptation of the short story on September 20, 2012 in the South Auditorium, 801 N. Rutledge.

	Director Kevin Percell (l), performer Aasne Vigesaa, and SIU's Phillip Davis, PhD, discuss the stage setting for The Yellow Wallpaper in the South Auditorium at SIU's School of Medicine.

Garwin Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and Medicine, Professor Eleanor Kinney

The Department of Medical Humanities is pleased to share that, during the 2012-13 academic year, the Southern Illinois University School of Law Center for Health Law will be welcoming to campus Professor Eleanor Kinney as the Garwin Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and Medicine.

Eleanor was the founding Director of the internationally-recognized William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, and is one of the nation’s leading experts on health law. A widely published author and respected lecturer on the subjects of America’s health care system, medical malpractice, comparative health law, health coverage for the poor, and administrative law, Professor Kinney is author or co-author of countless law review articles, book chapters, and book reviews.

Department News

Through a grant from the Consortium of Academic and Research Library in
Illinois (CARLI) to the Medical Library, the Department of Medical
Humanities' journal:Caduceus, has been digitized and is now available
through the Internet Archives (IA). All issues are available in multiple
formats, including IA's read online, pdf, epub, and Kindle, among others.