Making a place for the humanities in residency education.

The residents' retreat brings the process of medical humanities teaching into closer alignment with some of its most important purposes. The retreat format offers an opportunity to pursue profound and challenging aspects of residency education in more depth than is possible in the usual in-hospital teaching settings. The setting and pace of the retreat foster an attitude of reflection and heightened self-awareness for the residents; expose them to the values, insights, and feelings of their peers and faculty mentors; and lay a foundation for follow-up activities at the medical center that can involve more residents than can be accommodated at the retreat itself.