Utilizing visual art to enhance the clinical observation skills of medical students

Background: Clinical observation is fundamental in practicing medicine, but these skills are rarely taught. Currently no evidence-based exercises/courses exist for medical student training in observation skills. Aim: The goal was to develop and teach a visual arts-based exercise for medical students...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical teacher 2013-07, Vol.35 (7), p.e1327-e1331
Main Authors: Jasani, Sona K., Saks, Norma S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Clinical Competence
Clinical Diagnosis
Clinical medicine
Clinical skills
College students
Education, Medical, Undergraduate - methods
Educational Measurement
Exercise
Female
Health education
Humans
Male
Medical Students
Observation
Quantitative analysis
Skill development
Students, Medical - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Clinical observation is fundamental in practicing medicine, but these skills are rarely taught. Currently no evidence-based exercises/courses exist for medical student training in observation skills. Aim: The goal was to develop and teach a visual arts-based exercise for medical students, and to evaluate its usefulness in enhancing observation skills in clinical diagnosis. Methods: A pre- and posttest and evaluation survey were developed for a three-hour exercise presented to medical students just before starting clerkships. Students were provided with questions to guide discussion of both representational and non-representational works of art. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed that the mean number of observations between pre- and posttests was not significantly different (n = 70: 8.63 vs. 9.13, p = 0.22). Qualitative analysis of written responses identified four themes: (1) use of subjective terminology, (2) scope of interpretations, (3) speculative thinking, and (4) use of visual analogies. Evaluative comments indicated that students felt the exercise enhanced both mindfulness and skills. Conclusion: Using visual art images with guided questions can train medical students in observation skills. This exercise can be replicated without specially trained personnel or art museum partnerships.
ISSN:0142-159X
1466-187X
DOI:10.3109/0142159X.2013.770131