Music medicine course for medical students in Hungary

Abstract

Objective: In 2006 a Music Medicine credit course was initiated on Medical and Health Science Centre of University of Debrecen, Hungary for helping the medical students to gain more knowledge about Music Medicine and to dissolve prejudices and misbeliefs about the topic. The aims of the study besides the introduction of the course was thematic quantitative and qualitative analysis of the students’ evaluation about the course (n=150). Methods: A short, six-item questionnaire concerning the evaluation of the course was constructed for the purpose of this study. We used both qualitative and quantitative analysis. All of the participants (n=150) in the cross sectional survey were 1th to 6th year medical university students Medical and Health Science Centre of University of Debrecen, (Hungary). Data were collected between the years 2006–2012. Results: Evaluation of the course proved to be especially favourable regarding every measured aspects. The most favourable score showed the evaluation of the teacher and the least one was the individual participation. Content analysis resulted in four content categories, namely group cohesion, self-awareness, practical focus, and new perspective. Conclusions: Besides transferring useful information regarding the possibilities of applying music in medical practice a new as a “side-effect” the course improved the group cohesion between students, and helped them to overcome their shyness, and be more open to their fellow students.