Learning medical sociology through an innovative 'Elective study module' integrating humanities with medicine for undergraduate students of a medical college in Bengaluru, India.

Background The newly introduced 'Elective programme', a voluntary special study module in the final phase of the undergraduate medical curriculum, offers scope for new immersive, self-directed learning opportunities. We describe a programme of study for learning 'medical sociology' through the innovative use of humanities in medicine. Methods Our elective module, called 'Community Health and Rock Music' (CHaRM), was a 2-week programme, merging the curricular subject of community health with 'rock music' as an exposure to the 'counter-culture' outside of the medical world. The half-day sessions consisted of: (i) watching/listening to a rock song-video without reading its lyrics; (ii) listening to the same song again but with lyrics; (iii) undertaking an emotionally stimulating activity (watching a movie, making a site-visit, etc.); and (iv) debriefing, to identify/discuss the underlying social determinants of health and their relevance in the grooming of a socially aware medical student. Formative assessment was intended to gauge levels of expression of the affective domain (attitude/emotions). Results Seven of 143 students volunteered for this programme. Key learnings were a clear appreciation of the societal determinants of health (such as deprivation/discrimination/social structures); multi-level causation of diseases; social issues not addressed in traditional medical curriculum; personal growth; teamwork; and the role of empathy in medical practice. Additional learning was the exposure to the 'counter-culture of arts'. All 7 student assessments 'met expectation', with 4 of them 'exceeding expectation'. Conclusion An 'elective programme' combining humanities with medicine is potentially an innovative, student-centric and replicable model of learning that impacts the affective domain critical for doctors-in-training.