Humanities Day

Students and community members in discussion.

Humanities Day is a required program for first year medical students at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. First year students leave the classroom in the morning and spend time in communities, meeting with people and learning their views of and experiences with healthcare, or spend time at agencies that serve their needs.

Many students are surprised to learn about barriers to care, people’s reports of perceived healthcare workers’ biases, and other dissatisfactions with medical treatment.

In the afternoon, students attend seminars devoted to public health and social issues raised by visits of the morning.