Abstract
The field of medical humanities has no clear declaration of the what, why, who, and how,and development of a more cohesive professional identity has received little attention in
research. Developing a more cohesive profession is important for continued growth of
medical humanities and its scholars and will require collaborative conversation among
members of the vast medical humanities community of practice. While each member
plays a necessary and important role, not every individual contributing to the community
of practice is a more deeply immersed medical humanities scholar. By examining the
origins of medical humanities and its current landscape, the medical humanities
community may develop a more cohesive narrative and charge moving forward. Once the
profession—the declaration of what, why, who, and how—of the inherently applied and
publicly engaged field of medical humanities is established, progress towards a shared
vision of what a medical humanities scholar can profess and contribute to healthcare and
society may be made.