IOn a rainy Monday afternoon in a nondescript auditorium, Candida Pereira passionately explains the intricacies of the poetry of Portuguese politician and poet Vasco Graça Moura. Her classmates watched as the sophomore spoke enthusiastically about her lyrical form, poetic voice, and Moura's use of “perceptive imagery” and “sensual tones.” I'm listening carefully. Probably nothing unusual for a standard poetry module. But when the bell rings, Pereira plans to repackage her familiar collection of poetry and replace it with a more prosaic textbook on neuroanatomy and pharmacology. The 19-year-old is one of about 20 trainees taking a new elective course on the foundations of modern poetry at the University of Porto's Faculty of Medicine.
In today's increasingly transactional medical culture, this initiative demonstrates a belief in the priority of human-centered care and outdated notions of physician “bedside manner.” As course creator João Luis Barreto Guimarães explains, poetry helps students connect with future patients as a whole, rather than seeing them as medical problems that need solving. It has unique abilities that are useful.
“So I look at poems that talk about empathy, compassion, solidarity, and other similar humanitarian values that doctors should strive for when they are in front of their patients,” he says.
Guimarães, 56, who graduated from the same university's medical school, has been working as a breast cancer surgeon for 30 years. But when he's not in the theater performing life-saving surgery, he's home at his desk writing his poetry. The author of ten published collections, he was awarded Portugal's Pessoa Prize in 2022 for his contribution to the arts.
At first glance, his two passions have little in common. In fact, in our search for literal connections, we end up relying on metaphors. Cutting out words during editing is “a bit like cutting out a tumor with a scalpel,” he recalls.
Similarly, the course structure is relatively conventional, covering the basics of imagery, sound, tone, rhythm, and more. Still, Ms. Guimarães turned to her audience and mined her collection of poems by British poetry publisher Bloodaxe Books to ensure that every class had at least a few poems related to medicine. The course reading list includes such notables as Julio Dinis (Portuguese surgeon), William Carlos Williams (American pediatrician), Gottfried Behn (German pathologist), and Miroslav Holub (Czech immunologist). Includes many great poets and medical scientists. Its didactic intent is sometimes too subtle, Guimarães admits. For example, doctor-patient scenarios or poems about familiar medical settings provide students with an easy bridge to everyday study.
Take, for example, Wendy Cope's poem “Names,'' which is quoted in the module on depictions of the human body in poetry. This short one-stanza poem depicts the life of a woman named Eliza Lilly, but in real life she goes by many different names, including Lil, Beloved, Mrs. Hand, and Nanna. But when she is admitted to the hospital at the end of her life and finds herself alone and without friends, her medical staff knows nothing about her except the clinical contents of her medical file. . Cope's heartbreaking poem thus concludes: “During her bewildering final weeks, she was Eliza again.”
lesson? To remember the person behind the patient, Guimarães said: “Doctors these days often don't have time to stop and think, and everything quickly becomes technical and mechanical. What I try to convey to my students is that, like poetry, , each patient is unique.”
Similarly, this lesson starts a conversation about the emotional roller coaster that comes with being a doctor and helps students think about how to cope with the job. Let's take a look at John Stone's poem “Talking to the Family.” In a few short lines, students face the pain, confusion, and stress of the unpleasant but inevitable task of delivering bad news.
“…I’ll tell them.
they will put it together
And break it down.
Their voices are rustling.
the cut ends of their nerves
Curl.
I'll take off my coat, so
I drove home,
And please change the light bulb in the hall.”
Guimarães' teachings do not stick only to the most accomplished poets. In particular, he passionately advocates exposing his students to the “evil” of excessive sentimentalism. He is adamant that this is a practice that should be avoided at all costs once on the ward. Also, this course does not shy away from poems of a more abstract or complex nature. He considers poetry to be a valuable tool for elucidating the ability to express and conceal.
Poets, he argues, are not the only ones who try to hide their true meaning behind clever wordplay and literary devices. So do patients, for reasons of fear, disbelief, or just embarrassment (“So, how many units of alcohol do you estimate per week, doctor?”). Good doctors, he believes, know how to “read between the lines.” “In our lessons, we often talk about deciphering, because many poets use fantasy, symbolism, and mystery to convey their messages in hidden ways.”
Guimarães quotes his poem História Clínica (Clinical History) in this regard. The film is ostensibly about a woman who undergoes a double mastectomy, but underneath lies a dark story about her experience of domestic violence.This poem plays with the double meaning of Portuguese MedahaThis can mean “medal” (used here to refer to a woman's breasts) or, less commonly, “bruise” (linked in the text to “husband's bad mood”) You may. The ambiguity surrounding this word continues until the last shocking line. This woman is now cancer-free thanks to her surgery, but as a result of losing both of her breasts, her husband left her. Finally, Guimarães' poem ends. Libre de Perigo (“No danger”).
Since launching the course, Guimarães has received several requests to teach at other medical schools across Portugal. he is not alone. For example, Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona recently introduced a literature course for second-year doctors. Candida Pereira also understands the appeal. Like her poets, she reasons, doctors need to be in touch with their emotions. Although perhaps they need further steps. “As doctors, we also need to be sensitive to the feelings of our patients,” she reflects.