Historical Thinking in the Clinic

The growth of medical humanities has motivated calls for the inclusion of the history of medicine in clinical training programs. Largely, this has taken the form of broad surveys that have characterized the work of humanities scholars as a complement to clinical training. The methodologies employed by humanities scholars offer powerful tools that can aid in clinical practice. In particular, methodologies utilized by historians such as deep reading, archival research, and critical textual analysis are designed to capture information that would otherwise be lost through conventional approaches and may inform clinical decision making. These methodologies are especially relevant for understanding what is lost in AI-assisted clinical data summaries. Clinical education programs should consider including exposure to these methodologies in their curriculum.