Rethinking medical humanities

This paper questions different conceptions of Medical Humanities in order to provide a clearer understanding of what they are and why they matter. Building upon former attempts, we defend a conception of Medical Humanities as a humanistic problem-based approach to medicine aiming at influencing its nature and practice. In particular, we discuss three main conceptual issues regarding the overall nature of this discipline: (i) a problem-driven approach to Medical Humanities; (ii) the need for an integration of Medical Humanities into medicine; (iii) the methodological requirements that could render Medical Humanities an effective framework for medical decision-making

The cultural context of patient’s autonomy and doctor’s duty: passive euthanasia and advance directives in Germany and Israel

The moral discourse surrounding end-of-life (EoL) decisions is highly complex, and a comparison of Germany and Israel can highlight the impact of cultural factors. The comparison shows interesting differences in how patient’s autonomy and doctor’s duties are morally and legally related to each other with respect to the withholding and withdrawing of medical treatment in EoL situations. Taking the statements of two national expert ethics committees on EoL in Israel and Germany (and their legal outcome) as an example of this discourse, we describe the similarity of their recommendations and then focus on the differences, including the balancing of ethical principles, what is identified as a problem, what social role professionals play, and the influence of history and religion. The comparison seems to show that Israel is more restrictive in relation to Germany, in contrast with previous bioethical studies in the context of the moral and legal discourse regarding the beginning of life, in which Germany was characterized as far more restrictive. We reflect on the ambivalence of the cultural reasons for this difference and its expression in various dissenting views on passive euthanasia and advance directives, and conclude with a comment on the difficulty in classifying either stance as more or less restrictive

Ethical Considerations of Body Donation

Dead human bodies not only teach students the structure and function of the human form but also provide a rich environment for other learning experiences, including ethical and professional development. Ethical questions especially arise from the procurement and use of bodies in anatomy. This chapter will describe the role that anatomical donation programs play in educating individuals about medical ethics. In contrast to historical anatomical body procurement, which was often coercive and discriminatory, modern anatomical gift programs focus on individual consent in each donor. Ongoing ethical challenges in body procurement include the role of not-for-profit and for-profit body donation programs, the potential monetary value of donated tissue, advertising for body donation programs, and detailed versus broad informed consent in donation. It is argued that transparent and ethical anatomical body procurement is one of the core values of a body donation program and a hallmark of all students’ ethical and professional training