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14. Grazer Konferenz – Qualität der Lehre: New Horizons in Teaching and Learning

22. - 24.04.2010, Wien, Österreich

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Using visual arts to improve diagnostic skills - a brief review of the literature

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  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Michael Dennis Linder - University of Padua, Unit of Dermatology, Padua, Italy; International Society of Biopychosocial Medicine, Graz, Austria
  • author Eva-Maria Miggitsch - Medical University of Graz, Health Psychology and Empirical Psychosomatics, Research Unit of Behavioural Medicine, Graz, Austria; International Society of Biopychosocial Medicine, Graz, Austria
  • author Michael Trapp - Medical University of Graz, Health Psychology and Empirical Psychosomatics, Research Unit of Behavioural Medicine, Graz, Austria; Medical University of Graz, University Clinic of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Graz, Austria; International Society of Biopychosocial Medicine, Graz, Austria
  • author Erika Richtig - Medical University of Graz, Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Graz, Austria; International Society of Biopychosocial Medicine, Graz, Austria
  • author Josef Wilhelm Egger - Medical University of Graz, Health Psychology and Empirical Psychosomatics, Research Unit of Behavioural Medicine, Graz, Austria; Medical University of Graz, University Clinic of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Graz, Austria; International Society of Biopychosocial Medicine, Graz, Austria

14. Grazer Konferenz – Qualität der Lehre: New Horizons in Teaching and Learning. Wien, Österreich, 22.-24.04.2010. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2010. Doc10grako31

doi: 10.3205/10grako31, urn:nbn:de:0183-10grako311

Published: November 18, 2010

© 2010 Linder et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

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"More is missed by not looking than by not knowing" [Thomas McCrae, 1870-1935]
"Das ist das Schwerste von allem, was dir das leichteste dünket: mit den Augen zu sehen, was vor den Augen dir liegt." [J.W.v.Goethe 1749-1832] (The most difficult task is what seems the easiest to you: to use your eyes to see what lies in front of them.)

Introduction and Aims of the Study: Several publications suggest that "Arts based observational skills training" (i.e. the focussed observation and detailed discussion of works of art under the guidance of a trained facilitator) may increase diagnostic skills of doctors and medical students. In fact, clinical observation is mainly taught through preceptor modelling during the clinical years. No standard methods are available for communicating those skills. Structured observation of art works and understanding of fine arts concepts seems to be conducive to greater diagnostic skills, since clinical diagnosis is - also - dependent on observation, description and interpretation of visual information. In addition to that, through arts, the reductionist, objective approach of the biomedical model - of seeing man as a mere machine - is completed by a richer perception of existence, where subjective aspects are given more weight. Thus, a better knowledge of works by classic as well as contemporary artists leads to better awareness of the complex nature of human beings.

Methods: We carried out a PubMed and Ovid review to retrieve available data from the literature on the subject.

Results: Because of the inhomogeneous data available, more research is needed to support unequivocally the evidence of usefulness of fine arts observation in clinical. Nevertheless, such evidence seems likely to be attainable when studies on larger scales will be carried out. There is also the need to demonstrate the existence of long-term benefits in terms of both diagnostic skills and improved general clinical efficacy.