ABSTRACT
The medical humanities are undergoing a transition from what might be termed a naive and celebratory 'first wave', to a 'second wave' of more critical approaches. People calls this first wave 'medical humanities lite' and the second wave a 'critical medical humanities'. This second wave has brought both maturity and complexity to the medical humanities culture, but not necessarily coherence. The descriptor 'medical humanities' accommodates three distinct approaches: The study of medicine and the medical by humanities scholars usually based in university humanities departments, Arts and humanities interventions in medical education and, arts practitioners engaging the public with issues of the body and illness through literature, performance, theatre and the visual arts in particular. Finally, 'applied humanities scholars' without clinical experience could work collaboratively with clinicians adding a critical dimension introduced from the arts and humanities. Quality of life does not necessarily equate with medical models of health or healthcare models of wellbeing.
