Poetry: Response of Medical Students to Use in Teaching Dermatology

Background: Poetry is one of the major categories of literature which is characterized by having a meter form, rhyme, rhythm and other figurative expressions. It can be in cooperated in to other forms of literature such as prose and drama as it was the focus of the World Poetry Day 2023 theme: ‘Be a Poet even in Prose’. Poetry is being encouraged even in the teaching of medicine particularly in countries such as Australia, United States of America and United Kingdom. This study focused on the response of medical students to poems that were part of the lecture slides.

Methods: Short excerpts of poems taken from a collection of poems titled ‘Scar Songs’ formed part of the lecture slides for two different topics on two different days during the dermatology posting for the fifth year medical students. The response of the medical students was judged by a voice vote, hand count, body language and attention paid to the poems during the reading.

Results: Majority, 75 % raised their hands in affirmative that they enjoyed the class. There were positive emotions such as smiles and laughter by the students. On the lecture assessment form a student stated that the use of poetry aided his understanding.

Conclusion: Poetry can be enjoyed by medical students. It can be used as a teaching aid in dermatology.