The Medical Humanities Council: A Model for Medical Student-Led Advancement of the Health Humanities

This paper describes the Medical Humanities Council (MHC), a student-led initiative to promote the health humanities at the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania. Building on data-focused advocacy, peer benchmarking, and collaboration with curricular leaders, the MHC has become the cornerstone of a sustainable and flourishing health humanities infrastructure and programming targeted at medical students at PSOM. The MHC illustrates how student advocacy can advance the arts and humanities and serves as a model for student-led promotion of the health humanities, particularly when programing and/or institutional support are lacking.