This study focused on the Humanities Laboratory of the Center for History and Philosophy of Health Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). Our objective was to analyze how this educational activity, which is grounded on the aesthetic and reflective experience promoted by reading classic literature, act and impacts on healthcare students and professionals, thereby giving rise to humanistic training and humanization within healthcare. Starting from qualitative methodology, based on participant observation and on the participants' oral life histories, this study sought to assess and understand how an educational activity based on humanities can be proposed as a way towards humanizing healthcare. Our results showed that this was an effective approach, in that the esthetic experience promoted by reading the classics created an effect among the Humanities Laboratory participants, thereby producing reflective momentum that resulted in changes at both professional and personal levels.
Humanization; Humanities; Literature; Healthcare education; University