Abstract: Developing and nurturing empathy in medical trainees has been recognized as an essential element of medical education. Theater may be a unique instructional modality to increase empathy training. Methods: A multi-disciplinary team developed a theater workshop for first year medical students. Through the use of theater games, art images…

The aims of this report are to highlight the shortcomings in medical education. To use a student made short film as an example of how issues that cause medical student distress can be displayed. To show that the process of film-making is a useful tool in reflection. To display that film is an effective device in raising awareness. (Contains 3…

A course was designed for medical students in which literature and writing exercises were used to promote reflection on cross-cultural patient encounters. Students were encouraged to consider Kleinman's principles of open-ended questioning as the basis for enhancing these patient conversations and were prompted to develop skills in close reading…

Humanities in medicine (HIM) is an important aspect of medical education intended to help preserve humanism and a focus on patients. At the University of Massachusetts Family Medicine Residency Program, we have been expanding our HIM curriculum for our residents including orientation, home visit reflective writing, didactics and a department-wide…

Art of Analysis (AoA) is a cooperative effort of the Ohio State University College of Medicine (OSUCOM) and Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) aimed at medical students who are participating in learning communities, groups formed in pre-clinical medical student education to emotionally support and encourage students through the arduous process of…

According to the American Board of Family Medicine, "The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system and every disease entity." What makes the seemingly daunting task of practicing family medicine possible is that family physicians learn to utilize similar clinical reasoning for all of their patients regardless of…

Practicing medicine and creating art are both informed by observation and perception, yet how artists and doctors view the world and their place in it might be quite different. By bringing two populations together--RISD students and Warren Alpert Medical School students--into one experimental course, "No Innocent Eye: Knowledge and Interpretation…

Purpose: Critical reflection helps to animate humanistic values needed for professional behavior in medical students. We wanted to learn whether poems written by physicians could foster such critical reflection. To do so, we determined whether the poems elicited dissonance (i.e., recognition of their own or others behavior as incongruent with…

Family Medicine residency programs in the United States are required to promote resident well-being. This article describes how one residency does this by teaching the concepts of Positive Psychology and Authentic Happiness developed by Dr. Martin Seligman utilizing a multi-media curriculum. As part of this curriculum, residents listen to the song…