A medical doctor and Secretary-General of the Pan-African Writers Association, Dr Wale Okediran has called on the stakeholders in the education sector to incorporate literature into the medical studies curriculum.
Okediran said literature was significant to the study of medicine, particularly when it comes to the relationship between the patients and doctors.
The physician stated this at the ninth distinguished lecture he delivered at the
the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State and titled ‘Connecting medicine and literature: reflections for university system and health professions education in Nigeria.’
He said, “The use of literature in the education of members of the health profession is now well established and increasingly recognised as a powerful learning tool. Apart from being concerned with emotions, feelings and reactions to illness and suffering, literature is also relevant in debates on health and social issues and ethnic matters. Its purposes are to help in the development of an educated, compassionate and caring doctor complementary to and supportive of scientific knowledge.
Speaking at the event, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Awolowo Ajaka, said stakeholders that genuinely care about Nigeria needed to provide support for the quality training of more health professionals.
In his remarks, the vice-chancellor of the University, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, said the integration of humanities and interprofessional education into health training curricula were some of the critical reform agenda being advocated for in medical and health professional education globally.
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