Medical Humanities was initially concerned with the training of medical practitioners in hospitals and medical schools. Its origins can be traced to the use of history of medicine as a way of encouraging medical students to reflect on their practice in innovative ways. Major themes are understanding the patient experience, establishing empathy, medical ethics, history of concepts of disease and therapies, and medicine and the arts. It is inherently interdisciplinary, and commonly uses literature, theatre and the visual arts in participatory ways. In recent years the term Health Humanities has been used to embrace all the ways in which healthcare involves those other than professional medical communities.

Medical Humanities in China, as elsewhere, is taught mainly in medical schools. It has mainly been modelled after teaching practice in European and American schools and their concern that doctors and health workers have new pedagogical experiences that encourage empathy with sufferers. While Chinese medical history has flourished in these contexts, and there has been a strong focus on key differences in Chinese medical ethics, new models for a culturally specific Chinese medical humanities are only recently emerging. YiMovi is one response to this exciting development.