Creative Arts in Humane Medicine is a book for medical educators, practitioners, students and those in the allied health professions who wish to learn how the arts can contribute toward a more caring and empathic approach to medicine. Topical research and inspiring real-life accounts from international innovators in the field of humanistic medicine show how the creative arts in varied forms can contribute toward greater learning and understanding in medicine, as well as improved health and quality of life for patients and practitioners.

Cheryl L. McLean is an independent scholar and the founder, executive editor and publisher of The International Journal of The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice (IJCAIP). She has also edited the collections Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice and Creative Arts in Research for Community and Cultural Change, and she has taught the course Creative Responses to Death and Bereavement at Western University. A leading contributor to the field of the creative arts in interdisciplinary research, Ms. McLean has presented keynotes and workshops across North America and has special research interests in ethnodrama and health.

Cheryl L. McLean's profile page

This publication calls attention to a wide range of situations in which art forms might be educational or therapeutically helpful.…Creative Arts in Humane Medicine may serve an important role in stimulating further interest and research in this field.

The Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database, NYU School of Medicine

McLean’s book should be a must read for those responsible for medical education...so that in the end the human connection between healers and those they heal is enhanced.

Michael Gordon MD, MSc, FRCPC — Medical Program Director, Palliative Care, Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System; Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto

Cheryl McLean’s Creative Arts in Humane Medicine is a fascinating collection of essays that evocatively illustrates the importance of literature, music, photography, and art in facilitating self-care and awareness among health care providers, training empathetic physicians, and improving patient care.

Martin Donohoe, MD, FACP — Author of <i>Public Health and Social Justice</i>

McLean’s new book is for all those interested in healthcare and the arts.… [T]he integration of the arts into health care professional education remains a marginalized field, but best practices in this field abound.

Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical Humanities

Creative Arts in Humane Medicine takes us on a fascinating journey to meet the educators, clinicians, support workers and artists who apply arts-based methods in innovative ways to enhance patient care, reflexivity in learners, and a sense of community and well-being in practitioners. The book stands out with an emphasis on multiple media (theater, music, visual and digital imagery, literature, and reflective writing), as well as the inclusion of international and interprofessional perspectives.

Allan D. Peterkin MD — Head, Health, Arts and Humanities Program; Humanities Lead, Undergraduate Medical Education, University of Toronto

Creative Arts in Humane Medicine is a graceful and important book that offers a groundbreaking, inspiriting engagement with issues such as empathy, empowerment, ethics, and evidence, explored by a rich cast of inter-professional authors.… A must read for academics, researchers, clinicians, and students interested in creative healing arts, narrative health, and humane medicine.

Sue MacRae — Registered Nurse, Clinical Ethicist, Psychotherapist