Abstract
BackgroundThe recent growth of arts and humanities in medical education shows recognition that these disciplines can facilitate a breadth of thinking and result in personal and professional growth. However creative work can be a challenge to incorporate into a busy curriculum. Offering the option of creative media as a way of reflecting is an example of how this can occur. This study aimed to examine the medical student response to being given this option to explore a visit to a patient in a hospice.MethodsThis was a mainly qualitative study. In the 2012 academic programme, the class of 86 students were given the option of using a creative medium to explore their responses to both the visit and their developing communication skills. Students were required to write an accompanying commentary if submitting the creative work option. Sixty-four percent of the class chose a creative medium e.g. poetry, visual art, narrative prose, music. These students were asked to take part in research including completing a short on-line survey and consenting for their creative work and commentaries to be further examined. The creative works were categorised by genre and the commentaries analysed using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsSeventeen students completed the on-line survey and fifteen consented to their work being used for this research. Thematic analysis of the student commentaries revealed the following themes: effectiveness for expressing emotion or ideas that are difficult to articulate; engaging and energising quality of the task; time for reflection; flexibility for individual learning styles and therapeutic value.ConclusionsTeaching the art of communicating at end-of-life is challenging especially when it involves patients, and teachers want to ensure students gain as much as possible from the experience. Offering the option to use creative media means that students can choose a medium for reflection that best suits them as individuals and that can enable them to benefit as much as possible from their experience.
Highlights
The recent growth of arts and humanities in medical education shows recognition that these disciplines can facilitate a breadth of thinking and result in personal and professional growth
Creative work is valued as a way to tap into tacit, pre-verbal ways of knowing [1, 7] and to enhance and promote reflection through the time required by the creative process [2, 3, 7]
Consenting students were asked to complete an anonymous on-line survey exploring their views on the value of the creative option and at the survey conclusion were asked to consent to electronic copies of their creative work and commentaries being retained for research
Summary
The recent growth of arts and humanities in medical education shows recognition that these disciplines can facilitate a breadth of thinking and result in personal and professional growth. In the last thirty years, the arts and the humanities have been introduced into the medical curriculum to broaden the education from its scientific focus and to develop the personal attributes of being a doctor [1]. This has taken many forms, ranging from using existing creative works as stimuli for discussion through to students creating their own work. Producing creative work has potential therapeutic value It may enhance interactions with peers, increase enjoyment of study and thereby self-esteem, which results in more effective practitioners [3]
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