PURPOSE: Recent developments in medical education have encouraged
integration of arts and humanities into medical school curricula. The AAMC
describes the impact of arts and humanities in medical education through
their FRAHME initiative (The Fundamental Role of Arts and Humanities in
Medical Education).
METHODS: Since the beginning of our regional campus, we have utilized
multiple modalities of arts and humanities to enhance medical education in
the first and second year curriculum. The modalities have evolved over time,
and currently include paintings, sculptures, poetry, television shows, and
essays.
RESULTS: Our institution has successfully implemented six sessions which
meaningfully integrate arts and humanities in the curriculum across the first
two years. In museum-based sessions, partnering with the Georgia Museum of
Art, students learn methods of analyzing images in order to relate to medical
and scientific image interpretation in Year 1, while in Year 2 they practice
similar methods, including visual thinking strategies, to enhance their
clinical observation. Through four large group sessions on campus, students
learn about reflective practices, patient suffering, impact of patient
prognosis, and uncertainty through multiple forms of the arts. Student
feedback on these sessions has been overall positive. We have refined
sessions based on student feedback, for example increasing faculty
facilitation in the museum sessions to help reinforce the connections to
their scientific and clinical learning.
CONCLUSIONS: Implementing the arts and humanities into medical school
curriculum is an impactful way to impart certain components of the students'
learning. Well-spaced out integration with modification based on student
feedback has worked well for our curriculum, and we hope to continue to
evolve our current sessions and build onto our curriculum with other forms of
the arts that are currently being used in paracurricular formats.