MDHM 430 HEALTH, HUMANISM AND SOCIETY SCHOLARS MEDICAL HUMANITIES PRACTICUM (ONE SEMESTER)
Apply by submitting requested materials (varies by project) by November 4, 2024. If applying to more than one project (recommended, as this will increase your likelihood of being able to enroll), include a ranking of your preferences.
In this highly individualized course, students will spend one semester working with a mentor in an organization related to health and conduct their own research project. The organizations with which the mentors are affiliated will vary by semester and are listed below. Students learn about these organizations through assisting a mentor and conduct research into a medical humanities topic that will be presented to the public as a paper, presentation, website, exhibit, or other project.
Students might work alone with the partner organization or in a small group. Some students will spend several hours per week on site with their mentor, and others will work remotely. Note that the time spent with the mentor varies greatly by project. In general, however, the practicum should take approximately 8-10 hours/week including class meetings and completing class assignments.
Activities will vary according to the student’s work and interests but might involve conducting research and writing for publications, creating content for social media, conducting interviews, organizing and attending events and meetings, preparing strategies for public health awareness, etc.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Melissa Bailar.
How to enroll in the practicum
Review the practicum options below and submit the required application materials by the deadline via the application portal. It is strongly recommended that students apply to at least 3 projects, as many accept only 1 or 2 students and others have time constraints or other requirements. Some partners require an interview before accepting students.
Once you have been matched with a project, Dr. Bailar will be in touch to submit the registration override so that you may register for MDHM 430.
Prerequisites: MDHM 201 and at least nine credit hours in a humanities discipline.
MDHM 430 Practicum Options, Spring 2025
- American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
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Students in this practicum will spend about 4-5 hours per week shadowing practitioners and students at the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (https://acaomhealthcare.com/). You will observe patients being treated and be paired with a mentor who can explain the treatments and answer questions you have about holistic medicine. Students must formulate their own research question to pursue, under the guidance of Dr. Bailar, and will read relevant literature and possibly interview experts to complete a project. Students will be required to complete some HIPAA online training (approximately 6 hours) before the semester begins.
To apply, please submit a paragraph indicating your interest in learning about acupuncture, a broad research topic you would like to pursue, and blocks of time you would be available between 9am and 3pm Monday through Thursday. No prior familiarity with acupuncture is necessary, and you will refine your research topic over the first few weeks of the semester.
- Día de la Mujer Latina
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Día de la Mujer Latina
Students in this practicum will conduct research into healthcare disparities in Houston’s Latina population and work with the organization’s director and other staff members to develop strategies to improve access to healthcare, disseminate information about screenings and vaccinations, dispel misinformation, and inform healthcare professionals about the specific needs and concerns of this population. Much of the work will be focused on Community Healthcare Workers (front line public health worker who has in-depth understanding of the community being served), and there may be options for students to receive state certification as a CHW. Please note that this option requires set hours on-site determined by the director and a high level of Spanish communication skills.To apply, please submit a paragraph indicating your interest in the practicum, your availability M-F between 9 and 5pm, and your level of Spanish proficiency. The organization’s director and staff will select students after reviewing their credentials and an informal online interview.
- Radiation Effects and Events
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Selected students will work with Dr. Armin Weinberg (https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/armin-weinberg), faculty at Semey Medical University in Kazakhstan, librarians at the Texas Medical Center Library’s archives, and other individuals who have studied the health, social, political, and personal effects of radiation exposure from nuclear bombs (including their extensive testing in Kazakhstan), nuclear accidents, and nuclear waste. Depending on the status with Russia and Ukraine, students may talk with researchers there as well to learn about different approaches to medical treatment and obstacles to effective care. Students will assist with research into international medical partnerships; conduct interviews for the archive on radiation effects and events; work with authors on editing essays for journal publications; and/or other research-related tasks. Students will have the opportunity to talk and work with a range of experts from the U.S., Kazakhstan, Japan, and elsewhere. Students must have prior research experience in any discipline, strong organizational and time-management skills, and professional communication proficiency. This practicum may be taken for one or two semesters.
To apply, please submit a statement of prior research experience in any area, a paragraph indicating your interest in radiation effects and/or public health, and a resume.
- The Handbook of Texas Medicine
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Students in this practicum will research, write, and publish at least one entry for an online encyclopedia, The Handbook of Texas Medicine. Students may select a topic that has been identified as a priority for the handbook or may suggest a new one. Topics include the histories of hospitals and clinics (including those with non-Western approaches), health organizations, medical journals, remedies, and individual healthcare professionals. Of particular interest are histories of organizations providing healthcare to vulnerable populations. Students work closely with Dr. Bailar and the Handbook of Texas’ Managing Editor. Students may also meet with the head of the Texas Medical Center Library’s archives to learn archival research skills and explore relevant collections. Students will meet as needed with other community members who can contribute insights to their topics. Students must have strong writing and time management skills. This is designed as a one-semester practicum, but students may take it a second semester to complete another entry.
To apply, please submit a paragraph indicating your interest in medical history and writing, and a second one indicating a rough idea of what aspect of Texas medicine you would be interested in researching (in the past, students have expressed interest in “biographies of Black nurses,” “reproductive legislation,” “heart transplants,” etc.).
- Houston Methodist Living Donation Digital Storytelling Project
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The Living Donation Story telling Project, an online digital library, includes over 200 culturally diverse stories from people sharing their living kidney donation and living donor transplant experiences. Students may conduct ethical reviews to ensure collected stories follow guidelines to project patients' confidentiality, edit collected stories for online storytelling libraries and YouTube uploads, create promotional blogs and videos, assist in the management of our digital storytelling websites and social media accounts, develop strategies to grow and improve recruitment of storytellers, help build patient educational opportunities, assist with publishing the lessons learned about digital story telling for health education and promotion.
To apply, please submit a resume and 1-2 paragraphs of interest in this project highlighting experience or interest in digital marketing, running social media campaigns, website management, video editing and/or applying health promotion strategies to raise awareness. Students will need to pass badging requirements for Houston Methodist Hospital.
- Institute for Spirituality and Health
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Students will contribute to the development of a curriculum for medical and other health professions students, under the guidance of staff in the Institute for Spirituality and Health. The curriculum aims to guide students and interested practitioners to learn how different spiritual practices affect health and the clinical experience, learn strategies for talking with patients about their beliefs and values, and reflect on their own sense of meaning in the work they do and their lives as healthcare workers, and more. Students survey, compile, and summarize existing resources that are currently used in medical education settings to understand what gaps exist in medical education and how to fill them. Students will present their work mid-way and at the end of the semester to the Institute leadership and forums of patients and practitioners.
Please submit a paragraph indicating your interest in education about spirituality and health.
- Organ Chips & the Politics of Biomedical Innovation
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Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine
Novel biomedical technologies have transformed how we understand the human condition, health, and disease. In the decades since the invention of recombinant DNA technology in the mid 1970s, the early development of tissue engineering in the 1980s, and the mapping of the human genome in the 1990s—just to name a few—investment in biotechnology and biocapital has boomed, and these advancements have profoundly shaped what we imagine biomedicine can and should achieve. This project examines a set of novel technologies called organ chips, and the sociopolitical context that shapes their emergence. Drawing on interviews with organ chip researchers and funders, ethnographic observations of laboratories, scientific conferences, and educational settings, and document analysis of scientific publications and policy and regulatory documents, this project documents how organ chips, as technological artifacts, emerge as productive and valuable tools, and trace how they are imagined and brought into fruition by a diverse set of actors across government, industry, and academic sectors. Our analysis examines the social shaping of these technologies, including how they conceptualize categories of human difference and the downstream consequences of this. Students interested in science and technology studies, emerging technologies, and social and ethical implications of technology may be particularly interested in this project.
Qualifications
Detail-oriented, self-motivated, efficient, and strong organizational skills. - Demonstrate a high degree of flexibility in accepting work assignments with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks, understand processes, and resolve issues. - Interest in social medicine, health equity, and reproductive justice, and health policy - Some background in sociology, anthropology, or other social sciences strongly preferred, as well as qualitative research experience and/or coursework.
Responsibilities
Help with data collection and management. - Assist with participant recruitment. - Assist with cleaning transcripts and qualitative coding of data. - Conduct literature searches and summarize information. - Build reports based on findings for research team and collaborators. - Assist with preparation of papers and presentations for dissemination of findings. - Attend project team meetings.
To apply, please submit: 1. A one - two page cover letter that includes a statement of your interest in medical humanities generally, your interest in this project specifically, any previous research experience, and any other experience or coursework that prepares you for this project; 2. Resume or CV; 3. Unofficial transcript.
- Entanglements of Endometriosis
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Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine
This research study is a sociological analysis of endometriosis, a disease of the female reproductive system in which endometrial-like tissue grows outside the uterus on fallopian tubes, ovaries, and other local regions, leading to immense pain, cysts, and potentially infertility. Students interested in the social determinants of health, social medicine, health disparities, women’s health research, and reproductive justice may be interested in this project. This study asks two questions: 1) How do people living with endometriosis navigate living with this condition? 2) How do biomedical researchers and clinicians create knowledge about endometriosis? The National Institutes of Health estimates that one in ten females has endometriosis, and that 30-50% of people with endometriosis are infertile. Diagnosis of this condition typically takes years; many learn of this diagnosis while trying to achieve pregnancy or upon a ruptured cyst. In the US, endometriosis diagnoses in Black and Latine populations is even longer delayed, reflective of longstanding health inequities and racism in medicine particularly around reproductive health. Despite an increase in awareness about endometriosis over the past decade, little is known about its causes or effective ways to diagnose and treat it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people living with endometriosis, clinicians, and biomedical researchers, this project weaves together an analysis of the production of biomedical knowledge ("expert knowledge") about endometriosis alongside the experiences of people living with this illness ("lay knowledge").
Qualifications
Detail-oriented, self-motivated, efficient, and strong organizational skills. - Demonstrate a high degree of flexibility in accepting work assignments with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks, understand processes, and resolve issues. - Interest in social medicine, health equity, and reproductive justice, and health policy - Some background in sociology, anthropology, or other social sciences strongly preferred, as well as qualitative research experience and/or coursework.
Responsibilities
Help with data collection and management. - Assist with participant recruitment. - Assist with cleaning transcripts and qualitative coding of data. - Conduct literature searches and summarize information. - Build reports based on findings for research team and collaborators. - Assist with preparation of papers and presentations for dissemination of findings. - Attend project team meetings.
To apply, please submit: 1. A one - two page cover letter that includes a statement of your interest in medical humanities generally, your interest in this project specifically, any previous research experience, and any other experience or coursework that prepares you for this project; 2. Resume or CV; 3. Unofficial transcript.