Care Discover Teach Departments

Welcome to Health Humanities at Weill Cornell Medicine. The health humanities is a multidisciplinary field encompassing the social sciences, the humanistic disciplines, and the fine arts. It connects clinical care to humanistic understanding and is fundamental to the care of patients, the professional development of students, the continuing education of trainees and clinicians, and the health of populations. 

The health humanities is integrated into longitudinal and extracurricular programming at Weill Cornell Medical College, including required coursework such as the LEAP course, mentorship in the Area of Concentration, and support for electives. 

We offer a wealth of resources to the medical community, including guided museum visits via the Liz Claiborne Center for Humanism in Medicine, and our Health Humanities Speaker Series featuring luminaries such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, WCM ‘66.

Picture of Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘66 in conversation with Dr. Rachel Kowalsky, Lead for the Health Humanities at WCM
Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘66 in conversation with Dr. Rachel Kowalsky, Lead for the Health Humanities at WCM

Health Humanities Offerings at Weill Cornell 

  1. The Weill Cornell Medicine Health Humanities Council is a group of WCM clinicians, educators, scholars, students, and affiliates, dedicated to integrating the arts and humanities into our curriculum and programming.
  2. Hummingbird, the student-run medical humanities journal, is published annually.
  3. Student organizations engaged with the health humanities include Music & Medicine and Medical Humanities. 
Picture of The Music and Medicine Student Group performing at the Weill Cornell Medicine Health Humanities Kickoff
The Music and Medicine Student Group performing at the Weill Cornell Medicine Health Humanities Kickoff
  1. The LEAP course integrates reflection pieces into each session, supporting discussion of topics such as chronic illness, health literacy, and integrative health. 
picture-Exploring themes in chronic illness with young author Emmet O’Sullivan in the LEAP course
Exploring themes in chronic illness with young author Emmet O’Sullivan in the LEAP course
  1. The Division of Medical Ethics offers many resources to the WCM community.
  2. The Liz Claiborne Center for Humanism in Medicine housed in the Department of Geriatrics & Palliative Care, offers guided museum visits and other programs. 
picture- WCM medical students with Dr. Emily Finkelstein at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, viewing "Uncle Bob" by Archibald Motley (1935)
WCM medical students with Dr. Emily Finkelstein at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, viewing "Uncle Bob" by Archibald Motley (1935)
  1. The DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry supports scholarship in a range of historical topics that are relevant to the present-day theory and practice of psychiatry, and houses a Psychiatry and the Arts Seminar Series.
  2. The Medical Center Archives contains hundreds of historic manuscripts, images and photographs.
  3. Programs for residents include the Narrative Medicine Series for pediatric residents and a Medical Humanities Academic Practice Track for emergency medicine residents.  

Contact information: 

Back to Top