Teaching and Practicing Humanism and Empathy through Embodied Engagement

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is an essay that gives a general overview regarding issues of teaching and developping humanism through embodied engagemnet  in tecahing medical students. It can be of interets to vider audiences. 

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The paper is written in the form of an essay and  explores the concept of employment in medical practice. The concept has several meanings but the author prefers one that looks at the embodiment 
as an intersubjective phenomenon and is connected with delivery of healthcare  through "restoring a  patient’s sense of connectedness, control, and wholeness" not only healing the body of the patient in the physical sense. Then the issues of how this embodiment approach can be transferred into teaching emerges.  In teh classical medical curriculum learning  communication  with patients involves cognitive approach unlike similar teaching in osteopathic and homeopathic practitioners  where they  practice skills on each other, requiring that each student feel themselves and the other in their roles as  both the provider and the patient.

Then the author gives examples of possible approaches which can help medical students nurture their empathy thus understand the employment  through different models of teaching by using arts, puppetry, virtual reality training.This paper is therefore focused on the rationale for the development of a consciously embod-ied approach among medical students and the need for educational interventions to encourage this development. 

In my opinion  this paper gives an interesting  analysis of medical education and the importance of introducing phenomenological perspectives when teaching medical students. This is something that has been hinted at in the field of medical education and this paper gives a good overview.  The subjects explored in the paper are also close to the concept of  narrative medicine. This is not usual text to be published in a straightforward medical journal but may be of interest to readers of such journals. 

Reviewer 2 Report

In this essay the author suggests that the development of humanistic practice also requires the nurturing of intersubjectivity between the provider and the patient through strategies designed to promote embodied awareness.

The manuscript analyzes, in a clear and well-structured way, various approaches to the development of embodied awareness such as puppetry pedagogy, theater and virtual reality applications. The manuscript is relevant and of interest to the journal.

The manuscript is clear, relevant for the field and presented in a well-structured manner. Congratulations