“What I enjoy most about the Literature & Medicine® program is the opportunity to build community among diverse clinicians and employees who are able to connect and get to know one another in ways that would not otherwise be possible.” —Natalie Purcell, Liaison San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Do you work at a hospital, medical center, or Veterans’ Affairs site in Southern California, or the Central Coast? Are you looking for opportunities to connect with colleagues, explore the human condition, and help you understand your patients better?
We’re looking for new facilities to become site partners for Literature & Medicine®, a nationally recognized humanities-based professional development program for health care workers. Literature & Medicine® engages clinical staff members in reading and discussion programs facilitated by humanities scholars. This program, which California Humanities has been implementing for over 10 years, aims to improve the quality of health care services delivered to patients, through improving providers’ interpersonal and communication skills, increasing their ability to empathize with patients and co-workers, and increasing their levels of job satisfaction, cultural awareness, and self-knowledge.
We’re currently looking for hospitals and medical centers in the Los Angeles Metro, Inland Empire, San Diego, and Central Coast area to host this program.
Benefits of being a Literature & Medicine® host site:
- The program is free, offered at no cost to the host institution or hospital.
- We’ll foot the bill, covering the cost of books, food for meetings, and bringing in a humanities expert to facilitate.
- You’ll get a chance to dig into great literature with your colleagues, getting to know each other better, and having thought-provoking discussions about the medical humanities.
What we’d need from you:
- Become our advocate for the program at your institution.
- An hour or less a week of your time. The program requires a six-month commitment, with one facilitation session per month.
Interested? Contact Associate Program Officer, Lucena Lau Valle to learn more about this opportunity.
