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ART AND
in the McNay Collection), students create a response. Creative writ-
ing, photography, collage, sculpture, painting, and cooking are just
a few of the wide-ranging responses exhibited.
For the past four years, the course included medical and nursing
students only. 2015, Art Rounds expanded to students in the Health
Professions School including Occupational Therapy, Respiratory
Therapy, and Physical Therapy. The course is led by UT Health Sci-
ence Center, Center for Medical Ethics and Humanities, Adam V.
Ratner, MD, the Stewart & Marianne Reuter Endowed Professor of
Medical Humanities; and Kate Carey, Director of Education, the
McNayArt Museum. Additional Medical School partners include:
UT Nursing School Clarice Golightly-Jenkins, PhD, RN, MSN,
CNS and Assistant Professor, Department of Health Restoration &
Care Systems Management.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, The Uni-
versity of Texas at Dallas and the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
teaches a course : The Art of Examination, a preclinical elective fo-
cusing on developing skills for clinical diagnosis through looking at
works of art. Through experiences with artwork, students in the
course improve visual literacy skills, which is the ability to observe,
analyze, interpret, and make meaning from information presented
in the form of an image and relates to both examining patients as
well as artworks. The course uses the power of art to promote the
analysis and communication necessary in addressing ambiguity in
the physical exam and patient interaction. The class includes thirty
first- and second-year medical students from UT Southwestern
Medical School. The course meets primarily at The Dallas Museum
of Art, with classes also occurring at the Nasher Sculpture Center,
The Crow Museum of Asian Art, and the UT Southwestern
Clements Hospital and private collector’s homes.
Topics include artists with disease, empathy, color theory and cul-
tural influences, with their implications for medical practice. Par-
ticipants cultivate habits of close observation, inspection, and
cognitive reflections to shape his or her early medical career. Students
learn to synthesize observations and one’s own knowledge and ex-
periences as well as an awareness of the collaborative thinking process
of the group, a skill vital to successful clinical practice. The class en-
gages students in discussions, drawing and writing exercises, lectures,
and interactive experiences that foster communication.
The course consists of eight two-hour sessions; each session includes
both classroom-based introductions on methods and questioning
strategies for close observation of art followed by gallery activities dur-
ing which students discussed assigned works of art in small.
The faculty includes University of Texas Southwestern Medical
School, Dr. Heather Wickless, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor;
Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, The Edith O’-
Donnell Institute of Art History at The University of Texas at Dallas;
MEDICINE
Amanda Blake, Interim Director of Education at The Dallas Mu-
seum of Art, and Courtney Crothers, Art Curator at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
Summary
With the rapid growth and great interest in the development of
new courses and curricula involving art museums and medical
schools, there is a need to exchange information and to create a net-
work of colleagues in both the art museum and medical professions.
These connections will expedite mutual learning, which can then
be shared with medical students. The 2016 Art of Examination
Forum offered a platform for medical and museum educators to
learn new skills and discuss program and partnership strengths,
weaknesses and challenges, the value of research and evaluation, and
the impact on the medical and museum professions. Forum partic-
ipants and those who could not attend strongly encouraged future
convenings to share information and research and to develop faculty
skills. A plan is developing with Harvard Medical Schools and
Boston museums to present one in 2018. Some colleagues supported
forming a new professional society and setting standards with the
mission of integrating the art of medicine with other creative arts
on a national and international scale. Others advocated the advance-
ment of the field through existing medical and museum professional
associations. The interest and advocacy are pushing the field forward
at an exciting time for medical and art museum education.
Bonnie Pitman is the Distinguished Scholar in Residence, The Edith
O’Donnell Institute of Art History, at The University of Texas at Dallas.
The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, at the University
of Texas at Dallas launched the Art and Medicine website in the
Fall of 2016 and updated in the Spring of 2017.
The link to the website on Art and Medicine at The Edith O’-
Donnell Institute of Art History:
www.utdallas.edu/arthistory/medicine/
Under the Partnership Resources tab there is a Bibliography,
a listing of all the partnership programs that we had information
on, and sample Syllabi. All of these materials can be down-
loaded as PDFs. If you would like to add additional information
please send an email to Bonnie Pitman, Distinguished Scholar in
Residence at UTD, BPitman@utdallas.edu and we will send you
a form to complete. The website is updated everybi-annually.
Under the FORUM tab are links to the REPORT on the June
2016 Art of Examination: Art Museum and Medical School Part-
nerships Forum, which includes a summary of finding and future
actions, roster of participants as well as all the powerpoints and
video recordings from the plenary session.
visit us at www.bcms.org 17