Through the Eyes of Our Students

Keith Hansen, MD
April 1, 2026

The SDSMA continues and has always had a strong connection to the University of South Dakota School of Medicine (USD SSOM). The SDSMA promotes and supports evidence-based health care for the patients of South Dakota as well as the practice of medicine. By supporting medical education, SDSMA is embracing the future of medical practice and the care of patients. All USD SSOM medical students are provided membership in the SDSMA and AMA, financed through donations by our physician members. Some of our students become involved in SDSMA and AMA leadership opportunities, bringing forward student concerns to the Policy Council and the AMA. At the Annual AMA House of Delegates, medical students from throughout the U.S. bring issues affecting the future of medicine. The SDSMA Foundation also provides much needed scholarships to USD SSOM medical students; helping to reduce their increasing educational debt. This year the Foundation has set aside over $300,000 for scholarships, all thanks to our memberships’ donations. The SDSMA also allows our student members the opportunity for scholarly activities; including poster and oral presentations at the Annual Leadership Conference as well as the opportunity to publish in South Dakota Medicine. These scholarly activities enhance the students’ residency applications, which is especially important since the change in USMLE Step 1 to pass/fail. Another important area that the SDSMA is involved with medical education is in promoting the medical humanities.

I want to draw your attention to the 2^nd annual Humanities Supplement in South Dakota Medicine. This supplement is freely available on the SDSMA website (sdsma.org) and highlights the importance and impact of the medical humanities. The study of the humanities including the arts, ethics, philosophy, history and literature enhance and foster observation, all forms of communication and self-reflection. Prior to entering their clinical rotations, students live in a world of correct or incorrect answers, but once they arrive in the clinic they learn that everything is not always black or white. The humanities introduce our students to ambiguity, which is important for their ability to successfully practice and their self-care. The study of humanities also enhances critical thinking, enhances empathy, and allows the practitioner to treat the whole person and not just the disease process. Sir William Osler (1849-1919), the “Father of Modern Medicine” felt that the humanities were so integral to the practice of Medicine that a physician should spend 15 minutes a day reading in the area of the humanities. This resulted in his famous “bedside library” to promote the study of the Medical Humanities which will improve the practice of medicine and help prevent burnout. Medical education has increasingly been integrating the study of the humanities into the curriculum; with a number of schools offering a master’s degree in the Medical Humanities. At USD SSOM, Jerome Freeman, MD and Tim Ridgway, MD have been strong proponents for incorporating the medical humanities into the MD degree curriculum and demonstrating its critical importance in caring for patients. The SDSMA joined with USD SSOM to demonstrate the medical humanities in action at the USD SSOM with the South Dakota Medicine Humanities supplement. The cover photo with accompanying essay of the 2^nd annual Humanities Supplement is a painting by Eyob Mergia titled “The Immortality of the Human Heart” which is a powerful, pictorial representation of healthcare’s journey through the COVID-19 pandemic. Eyob Mergia is an abstract impressionist artist who originally moved to South Dakota from Ethiopia in 1997 and currently resides and works in Las Vegas. The rest of the Humanities Supplement explores medical education and the practice of medicine from the eyes of students, residents and faculty using essays, poems and paintings. The authors explore and reflect on how the arts and humanities impact medicine and the importance of self-reflection. I was humbled and amazed at the wide spectrum of talents our students have as well as their interpretation of patient care. In our busy lives and practices, what we may see as a minor interaction, the student observes and it may have a significant impact on their development as reflected in their prose. These writings in the medical humanities give us the opportunity to observe, reflect and discover the importance these seemingly minor interactions have on our students and patients. The Humanities Supplement reminds me of Osler’s famous quote “It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.” I hope you incorporate the latest Humanities Supplement into your Osler “Bedside Library” and explore the importance of the Humanities in medical care through the eyes of our students, residents and faculty.

I’m thrilled to announce that South Dakota Medicine will be publishing its 3^rd annual Humanities Supplement this fall. Those interested in submitting may contact Elizabeth Reiss at ereiss@sdsma.org. The submission deadline for the 2026 supplement is September 1.