It will distinguish you from the pack. If you have the GPA and MCAT to be competitive at the schools with med humanities programs, then you might be bringing something somewhat unusual to the table and that will be appreciated. If you aren't in the ballpark with regard to grades and scores, it will not move the needle in your favor.
from the American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities:
"The work of the health humanities is to examine, interpret, and illuminate the representations of human suffering and health in clinical care, public health, and scientific research, and the ethics related to all these endeavors. The health humanities can create spaces where we may interrogate assumptions, hold difficult conversations, and broaden our understandings of the human condition. Practitioners in the health humanities call us to examine the interrelationships among diverse sources of knowledge. They can help us make sense of human experience and the findings of science through creative expression and intellectual analysis."
Health Humanities The American Society of Bioethics and Humanities values the intertwining of disciplines through critical and scholarly dialogue that serves to advance the delivery of just and compassionate healing practices. To that end, we hold co...
asbh.org
I recall an intellectual analysis of the hard choices made in a hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that drew on, of all things, an account of the Anglo-Indian retreat from Burma during WWII.
Much of this work is done by people with doctoral degrees in English, Philosophy, and History but if adcoms see as legit the research done by those with PhDs in physics, chemistry and biology and the students who collaborate with them, why not academic inquiry into the realm of history, literature and art as it relates to the human condition and the provision of medical care?
In the last decade, universities across the country have expanded their medical humanities programs. But at Harvard, professors and students point to a need for formalized curricula and greater cross-field faculty hiring.
Generally, most health professionals thrive on being problem-solvers. When meeting patients, many professionals take on the role of sleuth to diagnose the