Narrative medicine as a roadmap to medical humanities in dental education

Dentistry is a highly skill oriented profession where tactile skill plays a major role in delivering dental treatment. Clinical competency-based dental curriculum is emphasized in the traditional dental education. However, face to face interactions between patient and dentist act as the daily routine during clinical practice. It is not surprised that holistic oral healthcare is the core guideline of year 112 teaching hospital accreditation (http://ftp.jct.org.tw: 8080/fbsharing/6OduGDVI). The definition of holistic oral healthcare refers to provide the patient-centered oral care which should consider physical, psychological, spiritual, and social issues. It is also necessary to respect and respond the need and value of patients during clinical oral care. Humanism as well as humanities have been recognized as the soul of medical health education. The cultivation of medical humanities is crucial for professional identity formation in dental education. The incorporation of humanistic education into traditional simulation based courses is important from dentists’ cultivation period to career development. Medical humanity has been defined as a combination of its relevant disciplines including ethics, philosophy, religious studies, history, literature, and so forth. The implementation of medical humanities education could foster students’ critical thinking, scientific process, self-