Using a second-language drama competition to foster medical humanities education

Drama has had a long-standing role in medical education. This article describes a voluntary English play competition for Chinese students, with original scripts, designed to help students engage with issues of medical humanities (MH). Over a five-year period, the resulting plays have demonstrated growing maturity of understanding and presentation, as well as increasing engagement with the activity to a surprising extent. Focus group interviews with participants following the 2015 competition showed substantial awareness of MH issues, altered opinions as a result of participation, growing sophistication of views over time and contribution to disciplinary identity, in addition to benefits in problem-solving, teamwork and friendship.