New Humanities & Health Collection

Teachers and medical practitioners have long extolled the benefits of including the humanities in the study of medicine. Similarly, students and residents have long held a deep appreciation for auto-biographical or semi-autobiographical works which serve as a realistic introduction to the rigors and realities of the health care world. The importance of literature in medicine has been pointed out by Dr. Rita Charon and her co-authors in describing the additional contributions literature makes to clinical practice (Annals of Internal Medicine 122(1995):599-606). Literary accounts of illness can teach healthcare providers concrete and powerful lessons about the lives of sick people. Just as important, great works of fiction about medicine enable those in healthcare to recognize the power and implications of what they do.

The Himmelfarb Library has always selectively acquired books classified in the Literature in Medicine genre. Recognizing the need for these materials, Himmelfarb has worked to build a more formal humanities and health reading collection. Dr. Shelley Bader, Associate Vice President Educational Resources, and her husband Barry S. Bader, regular donors to the Himmelfarb Library, have provided the initial funding for the Humanities and Health collection. The collection is being presented in memory of William M. Auster and Adele Auster Polak, who both suffered through serious illnesses, benefited from advances in science and deeply appreciated those who, in caring for them, remembered the humanity in their clinical practice.

The circulating collection is shelved in the Wertlieb Resource Room [Himmelfarb 201]. Materials are listed in the main online catalog and can also be searched from a separate web-based database at http://opac.medlib.gwumc.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi/0/0/0/28/71/X. Himmelfarb invites anyone who wants to honor or remember a loved one to make a donation to the Humanities and Health collection in addition to their regular contributions to the educational, clinical and research programs of the Medical Center. To make a donation contact Kathe Obrig, Associate Director for Library Operations at mlbkso@gwumc.edu or 202-994-8906.