Medical Education Online (Dec 2023)

Transformative experiences at art museums to support flourishing in medicine

  • Sean Tackett,
  • Lauren Eller,
  • Samuel Scharff,
  • Kamna S. Balhara,
  • Kaitlin M. Stouffer,
  • Melissa Suchanek,
  • Sarah L. Clever,
  • Philip Yenawine,
  • Suzy Wolffe,
  • Margaret S. Chisolm

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2023.2202914
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 28, no. 1

Abstract

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ABSTRACTPurpose We implemented and evaluated a hybrid 4-week arts-based elective for clinical medical students to support flourishing.Materials and Methods Five students participated in early 2022. Twelve sessions occurred in-person at art museums and other cultural centers, and five occurred online. Sessions incorporated varied arts-based learning activities, including Visual Thinking Strategies, a jazz seminar, and a mask-making workshop. We evaluated the course via weekly reflective essays, interviews 6 weeks after the course, and pre-post surveys that included four scales with clinical relevance: capacity for wonder (CfW), tolerance for ambiguity (TFA), interpersonal reactivity index, and openness to diversity.Results Qualitatively, the course helped learners: 1) reconnect with individual characteristics and interests that had been neglected during medical education; 2) better appreciate others’ perspectives; 3) develop identities as physicians; and 4) engage in quiet reflection, renewing their sense of purpose. Quantitatively, pre-post mean totals increased for the CfW (32.0 [SD 6.8] vs 44.0 [SD 5.7], p=.006) and TFA scales (16.4 [SD 5.2] vs 24.2 [SD 6.9], p=.033).Conclusions This elective facilitated learners’ connecting with themselves, others, and their profession with improvement in clinically-relevant measures. This provides further evidence that arts-based education can foster professional identity formation and be transformative for students.

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