duPont Fund Grant Supports New Medical Humanities Minor

Elmira, NY (06/24/2019) — The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has awarded a $25,000 grant to Elmira College in support of the creation of an interdisciplinary minor in the medical humanities, intended to serve students in the College's nursing program and other pre-health fields.

Medical humanities is a widely recognized field with colleges and universities of various sizes and categories offering undergraduate minors and majors, certificates, and graduate degrees. Medical humanities offerings are also incorporated into medical school curricula.

"We project significant enrollment growth in such fields as a result of our partnership with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), a partnership which will culminate in the opening of LECOM at Elmira in 2020," said Dr. Charlie Mitchell, provost at Elmira College. "The medical humanities minor will provide a cohesive, interdisciplinary course of study that connects the dots between the liberal arts and the pre-health curricula and will serve as a model for other interdisciplinary minors."

The new, structured liberal arts curriculum is intended to align the interests and needs of students majoring in nursing or pursuing other health related careers (i.e. medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary science, physical therapy, speech-language pathology) with an 18-credit minor of newly developed courses. The courses will be housed in specific disciplines (such as history, art, sociology) and serve as electives for students majoring in those programs; they will also fulfill a range of general education requirements. Students majoring in nursing and other pre-health fields who select the minor will be able to meet most of their general education distribution requirements through rigorous, discipline-based courses that address their area of interest.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is a national foundation that works to expand access and create opportunity by investing in the work of organizations that were important to Jessie Ball duPont. The Fund uses its resources to build the capacity of organizations it supports; build the assets of people, families and communities; and promote civil society.

Media Attachments