About the Program
More Information
Medical Humanities, in its most basic connotation, deals with the intersection of human experience, medical practice, and scientific technology. The field transcends the disciplinary boundaries of academe and engages all aspects of human culture-science, history, ethics, philosophy, literature, religion, art-in a discursive dialogue centered on what medicine means in relation to the individual and society.
The demand for professionals who understand and can convincingly synthesize the ethical, historical, and practical aspects of medicine as they relate to the implementation, control and dissemination of health care continues to grow. In our present society, where advances in science and technology often outpace our ability to understand and cope with new concepts and situations, the need for medical humanitarians is particularly acute.
The Medical Humanities program is conducted jointly by the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University and The Raritan Bay Medical Center, an affiliate of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and UMD/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The Core of Our Program: Medical Humanities at Drew
While many graduate and medical schools now offer a course in bioethics, the Caspersen School has chosen to go beyond a curriculum comprised solely of the “ethics of” types of courses. In addition to a required Biomedical Ethics course, all students enrolled in the Medical Humanities program must take a Medical Narrative and complete a Clinical Practicum at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, New Jersey as part of the program requirements. This unique combination of experiences form the backbone of our program.
Biomedical Ethics allows students to explore the major medical care issues which face the discipline, including discussions of ethical and religious concerns involving abortion, death and dying, and human experimentation. In this course, students learn the language of ethics and how to break down and understand the ethical issues highlighted nightly on the evening news.
In Medical Narrative, students explore how to both “tell” and “read” the stories of illness, various narrative approaches to medical knowledge, focusing on the narrative of illness, ethics and clinical care. Students also explore the varieties of medical narrative, such as anecdote, medical history and case presentation.
The Clinical Practicum offers a hands-on experience which complements and expands classroom learning. During the course of the practicum, students attend 10 clinical sessions (supervised hospital conferences and rounds). The clinical sessions are individualized according to each student’s needs and interests. The sessions range from attending the hospital’s Bioethics Committee meeting, to a Humanities Conference, to ER observation, ICU rounds, or a Nursing Home visit. This is a seminal experience for Medical Humanities students. Often times, students use their experience in Clinical Practicum as the basis for their theses and dissertations.
The Certificate in Medical Humanities (C.M.H.)
The Certificate in Medical Humanities (C.M.H.) requires the completion of five courses (15 credit hours) with a cumulative GPA of no less than 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Three of the courses (Biomedical Ethics, Medical Narrative, Clinical Practicum) are mandatory. The remaining two courses are taken as seminar electives.
The Masters of Medical Humanities (M.M.H.)
The Masters of Medical Humanities (M.M.H.) requires the completion of ten courses (30 credit hours) with a cumulative GPA of no less than 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Four of the courses (Biomedical Ethics, Medical Narrative, Clinical Practicum, Thesis Research) are mandatory.
The remaining six courses are taken as seminar electives. Applicants who already hold the C.M.H. or its equivalent from an accredited institution may be granted up to five course units (15 credit hours) of advanced standing upon application to the master’s program.
All M.M.H students must prepare a thesis of 50-75 pages.
The Doctor of Medical Humanities (D.M.H.)
The Doctor of Medical Humanities (D.M.H.) requires the completion of ten courses (30 credit hours) with a cumulative GPA of no less than 3.1 (on a 4.0 scale). Four of the courses (Biomedical Ethics, Medical Narrative, Clinical Practicum, and Joy of Scholarly Writing) are mandatory. The remaining six courses are taken as seminar electives.
All D.M.H students must prepare and successfully defend a nine-credit (for a total degree requirement of 39 credits) doctoral dissertation of 150-220 pages.
Requirements for Application
A complete application for either the C.M.H., M.M.H., or D.M.H. requires:
- A personal statement;
- The completed application form;
- Two letters of recommendation;
- A non-refundable application fee of $35.00, check payable to “Drew University;”
- Official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions.
The Graduate Record examination (GRE) is not required. However, international applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit TOEFL and TWE scores that are not more than two years old.
Please note that an M.M.H. or other recognized master’s degree in medicine, a medically-related field, or the humanities is a prerequisite for applying to the Drew Doctor of Medical Humanities program.
Application Timeline
Please keep in mind this timeline for admissions:
- Completed applications are accepted for all three terms (fall, spring and summer).
- Notification of acceptance is usually sent 2-3 weeks after the complete application is received.
- All applications must be received at least two weeks prior to the start of the semester for which the student is applying. Contact the Graduate Admissions Office for term start dates.
Non-degree seeking students
Those who hold a bachelor’s degree and would like to take a course before matriculating into the Arts & Letters or Medical Humanities programs may apply for admission as a non-matriculated, or “Graduate Special” student. This is an excellent opportunity for prospective students to familiarize themselves with graduate study at Drew before committing to a degree program.
Graduate Special students may enroll in up to two courses for a total of up to 6 credits, pay fees and tuition, earn course credit, and have their work recorded on their transcript. Admission as a Graduate Special student does not guarantee an offer of admission to a degree program, however credits completed as a Graduate Special student may be used to fulfill requirements for a degree program if he/she applies and is accepted as a matriculated student in the future. Graduate Special students are not eligible for financial aid or scholarships.
The Graduate Special application is available for downloading below. A complete Graduate Special application requires:
- Official transcripts showing completion of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four year college or university
- Brief explanation of your motivation for applying for Graduate Special student status
- $25.00 processing fee
Download the Medical Humanities Application
The Adobe Acrobat version of the file is as close to the real application as you can get without requesting a print copy. Once you download the application, and open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will be able to print the application.
In order to view this file, you will need Adobe’s Acrobat Reader installed on your computer or its corresponding plug-in installed in your browser. Many computers and browsers come with this software already installed. Acrobat Reader is a free program, and if you don’t have it, you can get it from Adobe’s Website. Get the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Financial Aid
There are three forms of financial aid for Medical Humanities students:
- There are a limited number of merit scholarships available for full-time Medical Humanities students. These awards range from 25% to 75% of tuition and are awarded based on the academic record presented through the application. Please contact the Graduate Admissions office for more information.
- Senior citizens age 62 or older are entitled to a half-tuition reduction. Qualified applicants should make an appointment with the Office of Financial Aid where they need to present legal proof of age and complete a Senior Citizen Certification form. Note that this discount does not apply to the optional summer term.
- Students may apply for federal financial aid by completing a Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Forms are available in the Graduate Admissions Office or on line at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Learn more about financial aid in the graduate school.
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