In What Way Does Music Improve Learning in Medical Education? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Music has been widely used in teaching and learning due to its observed positive effects. This review aimed to identify the beneficial impacts of music utilization in medical education. Methods: Using four established databases; Scopus, ScienceDirect, JSTOR and PubMed, exhaustive searched of related articles were performed for articles published between January 2010 and January 2020 using combination of keywords. Screening of titles and abstracts were conducted, with removal of duplicates. Results: Five full text articles were finally reviewed, of which one cross-sectional, three intervention and a qualitative studies. Consensus between authors had successfully identified three themes, which were positive effect of music on the well-being and performance of the medical students, as well as improved patient-doctor communication skills. Conclusion: The findings of the review confirmed the positive effects of music utilization on the well-being and performance of medical students, as well as on patient-doctor communication skills

Music in medical education: A critical interpretive synthesis

“…This synthesis presents the first comprehensive picture of how and why music has been offered in medical education, based on the analysis and evaluation of reports describing music-focused programmes and activities. Although previous studies sought to evaluate the benefits of music in medical education through thematic analysis of phenomenological data 51,109 or literature review, 7,[17][18][19][20] variously emphasising the use of music for well-being, 18,19,51,109 affective engagement, 51,109 identity, 51,109 self-expression, 51,109 as a teaching and learning resource, 17 to improve academic performance, 19 to improve communication skills, 19 for developing humanism 17,18 or T A B L E 2 Rationales for offering music in medical education (themes and categories).…”

“…103,104,114 A recent systematic review of articles published between 2015 and 2020 on how music might 'improve learning' in medical education reported positive effects of music upon well-being, performance, communication skills and empathy. 19 However, consistent with our finding that there is a paucity of research relevant to this question, only five articles were assessed as being of acceptable quality and were reviewed in full by the authors. Notably, evidence for increased empathy was based on a single cross-sectional study (not meeting criteria for inclusion in this CIS) that measured empathy and agreeability in students with and without music education using an empathetic tendency scale.…”

“…Consistent with prior reports, high-quality evidence for including music in medical education is scarce. 7,16,[18][19][20]109,114,146 Relevant articles (particularly those published prior to 2015) are largely descriptive and exploratory, characterised by weak evaluation methodology, poor quality evidence to justify judgements about efficacy 141,142 and the assumption that changes in attitudes will lead to changes in behaviour, 143 and were not longitudinal. Moreover, with only a few exceptions, 103,104,109,114,120 theoretical constructs from social psychology and music sociology that might offer a more nuanced understanding of how people engage with music have yet to be integrated in medical education research, 147 while only a very few studies have tried to integrate evidence from both neuroscientific and sociological perspectives.…”

“…The need for a more intentional approach to pedagogy in the medical humanities and creative arts‐based teaching has been recognised 15,16 . However, there have been few attempts to synthesise the literature on music in medical education 7,17–20 . Our investigation was directed by these guiding questions: How has music been included in medical education? Why did medical educators choose to offer music and what aims and outcomes of using music were reported? What is the evidence basis for using music in medical education? …”

“…15,16 However, there have been few attempts to synthesise the literature on music in medical education. 7,[17][18][19][20] Our investigation was directed by these guiding questions:…”