TABLE 3.

Learning objectives in course on ‘Pain and the Humanities’

Session 1: Dramatic representation	Session 2: Literary descriptions	Session 3: Fine art depictions	Session 4: Philosophic perspectives
Pain is a feature of many common diseases	Pain is a key aspect of the illness experience	There is often, but not always, observable evidence of serious pain	People differ in the extent to which they value the absence of pain
Pain has ‘meaning’. This meaning is influenced by context and culture	The meaning of pain for patients is individualized, depending on culture and context	Certain responses and actions make pain more or less ‘believable’	Pain exists within culture and context, sometimes linked to morality
Pain is often described in vivid terms	The suffering associated with pain is dynamic and multidimensional	Careful observation is crucial to providing medical clues about pain	Clinicians have a moral duty to relieve pain
There are multiple kinds of pain and it is important to distinguish them	Mental (psychosocial) pain and physical pain are different	There is a range of typical responses to pain	Pain sensitivity is sometimes intertwined with perceived character strength
‘Others’ have many different reactions to pain; awareness of differences is needed	There are appropriate and inappropriate responses to pain	Doctors are in a unique position with respect to the pain of others	Clinicians need to be aware of their pain-related values and acknowledge those of their patients
Caring is expressed by others to those in pain, the so-called ‘humane response’	There is value in compassionate responses to patients	Empathetic awareness is necessary to treat those in pain	The development of compassionate responses is appropriate and perhaps essential