Evaluating the humanistic literacy of Chinese medical students

Abstract

Abstract Background Medical education needs to strengthen its focus on improving the humanistic quality of medical students while improving their medical knowledge and skills. This study aims to identify and integrate the current literature and research hotspots on raising medical students' humanistic literacy to provide a reference for researchers. Methods CiteSpace is a Java application which supports visual exploration with knowledge discovery in bibliographic databases. We searched the China Knowledge Network (CNKI) database for articles published between 1995 and 2022. "Humanistic quality of medical students" was the key search term. Titles and abstracts were screened and extracted according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The CiteSpace software was used to retrieve 941 humanistic quality journal articles geared toward medical students from the CNKI database up to April 2022. A comprehensive review was conducted on these articles to reveal the current situation and hotspots of research aimed at improving medical students’ humanistic quality. Results The study found that the number of publications on humanities literacy research for medical students has increased overall over the past 20 years, although a certain graph shows an inverted S-shaped fluctuation. Research on improving the humanistic quality of Chinese medical students is predominantly conducted by medical colleges. No single author or institutional core group dominates the field of research on medical students' humanistic qualities. The main study focuses on humanistic qualities, medical students, higher vocational students, and higher vocational colleges. Conclusion Based on the research trends of medical students' humanistic literacy, combined with CiteSpace’s visual knowledge maps, this study provides an in-depth understanding of the main authors, institutions, and research hotspots in humanistic literacy for medical students. The information in this study is most valuable to researchers interested in medical student education. This study summarizes the current development and ideological foundations of humanistic literacy among medical students in China. This study helps researchers to grasp the scientific development and research issues in the field of humanistic literacy of medical students in China.