Training the eye, virtually: adapting an art in medicine curriculum for on-line learning

Abstract

Training the Eye: Improving the Art of Physical Diagnosis is an elective fine art-based medical humanities course at Harvard Medical School held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that aims to improve skills of observation. Due to COVID-19, this curriculum was converted from in-person to a virtual format for the first time in 2020. Students enrolled in the course prior to the pandemic and completed one session in person before transitioning unexpectedly to nine remote sessions through Zoom. Students were surveyed anonymously and TAs and faculty were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the strengths, weaknesses and future preferences of the virtual arts education at the course completion. Strengths identified in the virtual platform were being able to include participants irrespective of their location, incorporating most relevant artwork from any collection, harnessing virtual tools for enhanced art viewing, time-efficiency, and having a private, safe space for engaging in this type of learning. However, the experience in the galleries and the social interactions therein were noted to be impossible to fully recapitulate. Personal connections of the class were felt to be diminished and convenience increased. Both advantages (e.g., increased reach relative to types and locations of art works) and disadvantages (e.g., intimacy and connectivity promoted by in-gallery setting) of teaching arts-based medical humanities virtually were identified. A hybrid model may be able reap the benefits of both formats when it is safe to host such courses in person. Parallel lessons may be applicable to optimizing telemedicine encounters.

Prevalence of visual art education in medical school curricula: a national survey of US medical schools

“…It is possible that formal courses could be clustered coastally because of urban density as well as of the distribution of knowledgeable faculty willing to mentor and initiate new courses and programs. Virtual coursework in the arts and humanities can be a practical and valuable way to offer such exposure when local or in-person resources are otherwise limited [ 10 ]. However, viewing artwork virtually does also have limitations, namely from the two-dimensional rendering of three dimensional pieces and lack of environmental context within the museum.…”

“…In addition, since this survey was distributed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unknown whether any of the courses or activities reported have been affected by the pandemic. Since the distribution of the survey, on-line courses and access to resources at geographic distance have expanded [ 10 ], and this survey did not specifically ask about on-line opportunities or courses. Lastly, the proximity of a medical school to a major art museum may not reflect other resources such as a university art museum or small independent galleries that could be available for collaboration.…”