Visual Arts-Based Interventions in Surgical Education: A Systematic Review

To systematically review the evidence for visual arts-based interventions (VABI) and their outcomes in surgical education.

Although VABI shows promise in medical education, its evaluation in surgical training remains limited. There are gaps in understanding the integration of these interventions into surgical curricula and the outcomes to measure. This study explored the effectiveness of VABI across surgical education, particularly its impact on knowledge acquisition and skill development.

A literature search was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was performed across Web of Science, Preprint Citation Index, MEDLINE, and Embase. Two independent reviewers screened and extracted the data. Publications that explicitly utilized VABI and reported on knowledge or technical skill acquisition among surgical learners were selected. Study quality was assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) scale.

Twenty-four studies were included, which employed clay modeling (n=13 ), anatomy drawing (n=9 ), painting of three-dimensional (3D) structures (n=2), cross suturing (n=1), and paper manipulation (n=1). The participants included undergraduate medical learners (n=16) and postgraduate medical learners (n=12 ). The outcomes assessed included knowledge of anatomy/procedures (n=22 ) and accuracy of completing technical tasks (n=2). All the studies demonstrated improvements in both domains. The mean MERSQI score was 9.7/18.

Despite intervention and outcome heterogeneity, the VABI demonstrate evidence of contributes to improved knowledge acquisition and technical skills in surgical education. Future research should prioritize high-quality studies to compare VABI with traditional teaching methods that explore its long-term impacts.