ABSTRACT
As an antidote to the potentially dehumanising effect of the scientific focus in medical education, final year students at Aberdeen University may take a course in literature on topics such as death and bereavement. According to Dr Blair Smith, who developed the course,
Literature in all its forms has always been a major influence on society and omission of its study must therefore leave one exposed. Furthermore, its study provides insights into many aspects of historical and contemporary life, experiences and emotions… A doctor who can only face death or birth with a cold equanimity cannot pretend to practise humanely.
