1 WHAT PROBLEMS WERE ADDRESSED?

Over the last decade, medical schools try to reform their programmes to better prepare future doctors for the complex field of healthcare. A main direction of reform is to embrace a more holistic perspective on the patient. This direction, however, entails a paradigm shift in healthcare education, science and practice. Engaging with the arts can inspire this shift.1 Currently, most arts-based medical education is incidental: a one-off workshop or museum visit. Their effects are promising, but their longevity is questionable. We explored the value of a 3 months, immersive arts-based programme for developing appropriate competences of doctors in training.

2 WHAT WAS TRIED?

With the Radboudumc art committee, we developed an extracurricular programme ‘The Art of Seeing for Healthcare Professionals’ (TASH), combining arts and medical learning for residents and interns. Over 30 participants each year (2016–2019) worked with artists for 6 hours on 8 Saturdays. Each Saturday morning, they drove to a different location together in an old school bus, full of anticipation, and in a school excursion atmosphere.

Participants joined artists in their arts practices. For instance, sculpting new images with a collage artist's photo archive in an empty factory building, nude figure drawing in a monastery, making bio-art in an art laboratory and giving titles to untitled art works in a museum. Artists prepared assignments in collaboration with a team of medical doctors and educators, who also functioned as coaches. Every workshop was concluded with a reflection session. For research purposes, participants were interviewed one-on-one and in small groups, with a focus on learning mechanisms. Reflection sessions and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed.

3 WHAT LESSONS WERE LEARNED?

Participants felt revived by the open nature of the programme: ‘[Training to become a doctor] is stressful, so I really like this kind of thing, to go back to basics: what Is it all about?’ The programme had an effect of slowing down, which made participants reflect on their experiences in normal practice: ‘I don't feel the space or time to take a step back and quietly observe whether I can apply what I learned.’ Participants also reported feeling less stressed during the week after a Saturday session.

The programme helped to develop a new perspective on medicine and patients. Participants learned that how they have been educated determines the way they look at patients and that they have to zoom out to reflect on their professional role: ‘So, what will be our role as doctors? To see, I think, the context and the complete picture.’

Arts-based learning can help medical students negotiate the multiple and challenging aspects of becoming a reflective healthcare practitioner. We conclude that participants took a wider perspective into account that made them consider their role and the kind of doctor they want to be. Key design principles for the perspective transformation are creative openness, slowing down, room for affect and a sense of community.

REFERENCE

1Jones K, Kittendorf A, Kumagai A. Creative art and medical student development: a qualitative study. Med Educ. 2017; 51: 174- 183.