Visual arts in the clinical clerkship: a pilot cluster-randomized, controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology
• Art Therapy

Background:

• Arts exposure is linked to positive psychological outcomes.
• No prior randomized controlled trials have examined art integration in clinical medical education.
• This study explores visual arts in an internal medicine (IM) clerkship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of integrating visual arts education into a required IM clerkship.
• To evaluate the potential benefits of arts education on psychological constructs and educational outcomes.
• To explore student perceptions of arts-based interventions.

Main Methods:

• A controlled trial was conducted with internal medicine students in three groups: museum-based arts, hospital-based arts, and conventional education.
• Participants engaged in guided discussions on empathy, resilience, and compassion through art.
• Pre- and post-intervention measures of empathy, mindfulness, tolerance of ambiguity, and grit were assessed, alongside National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) shelf exam performance.

Main Results:

• Visual arts education was successfully integrated into the clinical clerkship in both hospital and museum settings.
• Focus groups indicated increased awareness of implicit bias and more time for reflection among arts participants.
• No statistically significant differences were found in psychometric measures or educational outcomes between groups.

Conclusions:

• Integrating visual arts into clinical medical education is feasible.
• While quantitative outcomes did not show significant differences, qualitative data suggest potential benefits for psychological constructs.
• Further multi-center research is recommended to validate these findings.