Museum-Based Education in Health Professions Learning: A 5-Year Retrospective

A growing evidence base suggests that the integration of museum-based activities into health professions education can contribute to learner resilience and wellbeing, promote capacity for patient-centered care, and encourage equity in learning environments. However, the styles and methods for implementing museum-based programs vary widely across different institutions. This retrospective leverages the lessons learned from 5 years of experience implementing museum-based programs at one large academic institution to examine the various operational and logistical considerations in implementing a museum-based program for health professions learners. These efforts are intended to support the Association of American Medical Colleges and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's aims to formally integrate the arts and humanities into health professions education. We structure our recommendations under the subheadings of program form, audience, function, and evaluation, with hopes of providing medical educators with starting guidelines that are broadly adoptable across different institutions.