The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine as a “Teaching Subject”: Lessons from the Medical Humanities and Simulation Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

The rhetoric of health and medicine has only begun to intervene in health pedagogy. In contrast, the medical humanities has spearheaded curriculum to address dehumanizing trends in medicine. This article argues that rhetorical scholars can align with medical humanities’ initiatives and uniquely contribute to health curriculum. Drawing on the author’s research on clinical simulation, the article discusses rhetorical methodologies, genre theory, and critical lenses as areas for pedagogical collaboration between rhetoricians and health practitioners.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum design
• health communication
• medical communication
• pedagogical theory
• rhetorical theory

Notes

1. I use practitioners throughout this article to refer to possible collaborators in health education such as faculty, clinical instructors, and practicing health care providers in a range of disciplines including medicine, nursing, social work, emergency medical services, and more. In contrast, when I discuss MH literature, scholars in that field frequently refer to physicians as their target audience, reflecting a tendency to prioritize medical students and curriculum over other health disciplines (Barber & Moreno-Leguizamon, 2017). RHM scholarship can play a role in countering this trend through pedagogical collaborations with a range of practitioners and fields.

2. Companies such as Laerdal and Gaumard that design and market robotic simulators refer to them as “manikins,” so that term is used throughout despite the author’s preference for mannequin. The manikins are technologically designed to respond to treatments and can exhibit symptoms including dilated eyes, spiking a fever, changes in skin tone, and wheezing. They are capable of receiving shots, giving birth, and even dying as a result of student interventions.

3. This research was exempted by the human subjects review at my home institution and the institution where it took place on the grounds that it did not interfere with normal classroom practices.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lillian Campbell

Lillian Campbell is an assistant professor of English at Marquette University. Her scholarship focuses on rhetorics of health and medicine, disciplinary and professional communication, and feminist rhetorics.