MDNews - Greater Boston

SPECI A L FE AT UR E The Art of Science: Re-establishing Creativity in Medicine By Tiffany Parnell "W ILLIAM OSLER ONCE defined medicine as an art that uses sci- ence," says Salvatore Mangione, MD, Associate Professor at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thoma s Jef ferson Universit y in Philadelphia. "If you consider that prem- ise, the art must be there. Medicine is not a purely technical skill." AS MEDICAL STUDENTS TRANSITION INTO PRACTICE, THEY MAY LEAVE CREATIVE APPROACHES TO PROBLEM SOLVING BEHIND IN FAVOR OF MORE RIGIDLY ANALYTICAL THINKING. MANY PHYSICIANS AND ACADEMICS AGREE, HOWEVER, THAT NURTURING A SPIRIT OF CREATIVITY IN MEDICINE IS ESSENTIAL TO FORMING WELL-ROUNDED PHYSICIANS. M ED I C A L S C H O O L S TA K E N OT E MANY PHYSICIANS HAVE called on medical schools to place greater emphasis on creativity and the role of the arts and humanities by incorporating these disciplines into their cur- ricula — and many schools have answered the call. According to a 2011 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 69 of America's medical schools require students to take at least one course in medical humanities. Some of the nation's most prestigious schools, including Harvard Medical School, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Yale School of Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, are at the forefront of creative-discipline inclusion. Art and drawing lessons and/or classes devoted to visiting museums are encouraged, with the goal of enhancing students' observa- tional skills. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai's Humanities and Medicine Early Assurance Program even provides 30 to 35 coveted medical school slots each year to liberal arts students without a science background in hopes these students will become sensitive physicians.

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