The Oak Badge for Medical Humanities turns one
The Oak Badge for Medical Humanities (MedHum) in the College of Medicine at NEOMED is officially one year old, and what a meaningful first year it has been.
Created to foster creativity, reflection, connection and humanism in medicine, the program has quickly grown into a vibrant community where students can explore the humanities alongside their medical education. Through art, literature, storytelling, service, mentorship and shared experiences, MedHum has encouraged students to reconnect with the human side of medicine while building lasting relationships with peers and faculty.
The program is led by co-directors Rachel Bracken, Ph.D., and Eliot Mostow, M.D., alongside program coordinator Kara Bloom, with additional support from 16 affiliated faculty members across academic, artistic and physician disciplines.
In its inaugural year, 83 students registered for the program, including 61 first-year students, 18 second-year students, and 4 third-year students. Students earned badge points through categories such as campus engagement, arts engagement, scholarly and intellectual activity, leadership and advocacy, learning community engagement, and independent study.
Throughout the academic year, MedHum hosted over 30 unique events totaling over 40 hours of programming and nearly 400 student contact hours. Events ranged from creative writing workshops and improv sessions to museum visits, book clubs, poetry slams/competitions, faculty coffee chats, journal clubs and hands-on workshops like the “Stitches series,” where students learned embroidery before transitioning into suturing skills.
Students also participated in experiences outside the traditional classroom, including visits to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, the John P. Murphy Symposium and William Carlos Williams Poetry Contest.
The program’s book and film clubs encouraged thoughtful discussion around empathy, mortality, identity, and the physician experience. Featured selections included Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, alongside film screenings of Never Let Me Go and Come See Me in the Good Light.
The impact of the program is already evident. Seventy-two percent of students have logged badge points, and 15 students have already earned one or more badges:
- 8 Bronze Badges
- 3 Silver Badges
- 2 Gold Badges
- 2 Platinum Badges
For many students, the program has become more than a co-curricular opportunity; it has become a community and helped build lasting friendships.
The program also emphasized mentorship and connection through coffee and tea chats with affiliated faculty, helping students build relationships beyond the classroom and clinical environment.
To celebrate the conclusion of the first year, students gathered for a celebration lunch. During the event, students created handwritten thank-you cards for the program’s silent funder, expressing appreciation for the opportunities and experiences the program has made possible.
While the first year brought excitement, growth and momentum, it also laid the foundation for what MedHum hopes to become in the future: a lasting space for reflection, creativity, compassion and connection within medical education.
As the Oak Badge for Medical Humanities enters its second year, the program looks forward to expanding opportunities, deepening student engagement, and continuing to remind future physicians that medicine is not only a science, but also an art.
-Submitted by Kara Bloom