A medical student elective promoting humanism, communication skills, complementary and alternative medicine and physician self-care: an evaluation of the HEART program.

Objective: In 2002 the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) created a fourth-year medical student elective known as the Humanistic Elective in alternative medicine, Activism, and Reflective Transformation (HEART) that provided the opportunity for students to explore humanism in medicine, self-care, complementary and alternative medicine modalities, communication, activism, and community building in a four-week immersion experience. The educational effects of this elective, and whether it has met its stated goals, are unknown.

Method: The authors conducted a web-based, cross-sectional survey of the first eight cohorts of HEART graduates in 2010.