The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Center for Humanism and Medicine at Rutgers

In 2004, HFNJ provided a grant of $3.2 million to New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) to establish an endowment for The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Center for Humanism and Medicine.

This unique humanism program was designed as a bulwark against the bureaucratic and technocratic encroachments into modern medicine that leaves many physicians disenchanted with the profession – ensuring that compassion, respect for patients, and “the human touch” remain at the center of medical practice.

Below is an update from Dr. Manasa Ayyala MD, Director of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Center for Humanism and Medicine on the work of the Center today.

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The Humanism Center has developed a community of learners and faculty who are invested in promoting dignity and respect for the individual, commitment to the relief of suffering, and the delivery of care that is kind, just, and humble.  Each year, selected students become “Humanism Fellows,” an honor and designation that is granted pre-matriculation to our medical school. Humanism Fellows serve as champions for humanism at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. During their time as Humanism Fellows, these students engage in reflective practice and are encouraged to design and implement projects (with mentorship from Center leadership) that promote and cultivate humanism in medicine.  The Center has now graduated over 60 Humanism Fellows who practice in all areas of medicine ranging from primary care to subspecialty care and range in location of practice from here in New Jersey to internationally.

The Humanism Center’s longitudinal and lasting impact can be felt at Rutgers NJMS and beyond.  For example, the Center inspired a medical-school wide curricular objective – “Excellence in Professionalism and Humanism” leading to the creation of a formal course required of all first and second-year medical students titled, “Healing, Humanism, and Health Equity” (also known as “HHH”) which is assigned a grade in the medical school transcript.

The HHH curriculum includes the following humanism-related objectives:

• Identify the physician’s role in the healing process through a holistic approach that minimizes suffering and values all aspects of health.
• Demonstrate effective communication skills with patients, families, and all members of the interprofessional healthcare team.
• Explore how humanism is essential to the practice of medicine.
• Develop one’s professional identity through self-reflection, dialogue, and clinical skills practice.
• Demonstrate ethical and professional conduct in all aspects of student life and clinical care, including the recognition and mitigation of bias.

Additionally, the Humanism Center has multiple signature programs focused on cultivating and promoting humanism in medicine. Two examples of our newer signature programs include “Exploring Humanism through Culinary Medicine,” a 3-part workshop series co-led by a 2012 Humanism Center Alumni with current 2nd year Humanism Fellows. Another new program is the Center’s collaboration with The Newark Art Museum through which a 3-part workshop series, “Exploring Humanism in Medicine through Museum-based Art” is co-led by a senior museum educator and Dr. Ayyala and takes place physically in the Newark Art Museum galleries. Through this series, students practice some of the necessary skills to cultivate humanism in medicine: close observation, ability to appreciate different perspectives, and tolerance for ambiguity.

We are so grateful to The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey for making the Center possible. We are proud of our impact and what our alumni and current students continue to accomplish and are excited to see what the future holds!