Watch George – and earn a degree

Published on Tuesday 22 September 2009 22:09

BEING distracted by daytime television dramas such as Doctors and Diagnosis Murder has been a trap workshy students are notorious for falling into. Now, watching medical programmes could help you gain a university certificate.

Aberdeen University is offering, for the first time in Scotland, modules on medical humanities, including a course on how doctors and illnesses are represented in literature and the media.

Among the texts on the reading list are Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year and the film The Elephant Man.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein will also be used to spark discussions about mental illness and ethics.

However, critics have said studying television doctors was frivolous and warned hospital dramas could exaggerate and embellish reality in a detrimental way.

The idea behind the new courses, piloted last year, is that there is more to understanding and caring for human bodies and minds than science alone.

The modules are being run by the university's Centre for Lifelong Learning, leading to a certificate, but could eventually be developed into a full degree.

Dr David Smith, senior lecturer in the history of medicine and co-coordinator of the Centre for Medical Humanities, said the approach could offer insight into the role medicine has in society.

He believes seeing the profession from the perspective of patients, as depicted on television or in books, could help improve communication, and the medical profession-patient relationship.

And he said given the increasing ethical debate around issues such as cloning and abortion, such discussions could be helpful to doctors and nurses.

He added: "But the courses will be of interest to anyone with a general interest in medicine and health, and those involved with complementary medicine as well as the other healthcare professions."

Issues concerning the history, philosophy, and ethics of medicine, the roles of spirituality in health and illness, and the history of disability in society will also be on the syllabus.

A patient group, however, has expressed scepticism of its value. Margaret Watt of the Scottish Patients Association said: "It's a bit frivolous, I don't think it would help. Television can highlight issues, but it can also cloud the issue.

"But they can be good as they tell patient stories, providing they don't embellish it so people can learn."

Dr Leigh Clayton, lifelong learning co-ordinator, defended the use of popular representations of hospitals and medical staf: "For health professionals who take these courses, they can help with their personal and professional development and, in turn, result in better standard of personal care for patients."

Doctors gave support to the ideas behind the courses, if they included greater study of how medical staff reach decisions.

A British Medical Association Spokesman said: "A good understanding of medical ethics is essential for a doctor in today's NHS."