The arts have often been viewed as a category outside of science, or even as an opposing force, rather than as a complementary discipline. In an effort to downplay the merits of arts courses within a general education curriculum, critics have argued that the arts are a less lucrative or productive career option. These sentiments are often coupled with, or borne out of, calls for increasing students’ exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education; ultimately, this focus has led to sharp decreases in funding for arts classes in the past decade1.
This outcome is unfortunate because an education in the arts can help to produce better students. This claim is backed by popular sentiment, as 93% of respondents to a Harris Poll on the attitudes of Americans towards arts education agreed that an education in the arts produces more well-rounded individuals2. This idea that students gain from exposure to arts has also been supported by empirical research in early education, with improvements in students’ reading and language, mathematics, cognitive skills, social skills, and motivation to learn as well as in the creation of a positive school environment2. Arts classes not only serve to enhance soft skills (as is often cited), but provide additional crossover benefits to other subjects such as literacy and math.
Paralleling findings in younger students, skills cultivated by arts courses are often transferrable into other areas of learning and achievement at a higher level of schooling. One study illustrates this in its finding that high school students who take arts classes have “higher math and verbal SAT scores” compared to students who do not take arts classes1. Specifically, music instruction has been shown to correlate with higher scores on standardized math tests and better performance in grade 12 math classes. This finding has been replicated in students from low-income families as well3,4, which has been proposed to be due to the fact that musical training “emphasizes proportion, patterns, and ratio expressed as mathematical relations.3” There is a scarcity of data on the contributions of the arts to PCAT exam performance, however, aside from an ostensible benefit of English composition on the reading and verbal sections of the PCAT exam.
In addition to increasing performance on standardized testing at a high school level, the arts can serve as a supportive learning environment. In secondary education, a stage where development is critical, the arts can facilitate an environment with “constructive acceptance of criticism and one where it is safe to take risks.2” Studies have shown that high school students who participated in dance perform better than non-dancers in assessments of creative thinking and abstract thought2. Arts also foster a desire to learn via encouraging active participation and engagement, discipline, and persistence.3
These benefits can also be conferred to professional training. In medicine, a background (or at least supplemental courses) in the arts help to foster a “tolerance for ambiguity and individual difference” as well as an insight into and appreciation for an individual’s unique perspective4. For example, as literature “enriches the language and thus the thought processes of practitioners,” it thereby provides a vocabulary with which to articulate a patient’s care4.
Medicine has been characterized as both an art and a science. Panda (2016) describes the interplay as such: “Medicine…is an applied science, and its practice an art.5” The applied science of medicine refers to medicine’s fundamental purpose in diagnosing and treating disease in an individual, while the art of medicine encompasses the nuanced, empathetic and personalized care of patients, or in other words, the human side of medicine1. This definition encapsulates how clinicians can help understand an individual’s unique circumstances, and identify with a patient’s subjective life experience4. Literature in the pharmacy sphere echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the perceived benefits of coursework in the humanities as cultivating the attributes of “communication, ethics, moral reasoning, and critical thinking abilities” in pharmacy students.6 These attributes directly align with the American Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)’s standards for patient care, which include problem solving, patient advocacy, cultural sensitivity and communication.7
Therefore, arts courses have been shown to be beneficial to a range of professional students, refining cognitive and soft skills, and developing an appreciation for nuance and an individual’s humanity. Aside from admitting students who have backgrounds in humanities and the arts to health professions programs, how else can educators and employers ensure that the clinicians of tomorrow are well-rounded providers?
A possible solution is to implement the use of arts strategies in a professional curriculum. Strategies to enhance providers’ “whole person approach” interweave artistic media into the standard material, drawing upon pedagogy associated with the arts1. This is because artistic activities may offer stimulation outside of what is typically employed in a traditional medical or scientific course.
For example, the use of literary works and film in healthcare ethics classes can serve as a “consciousness raising activity” and can be more engaging than the standard curricular reading material4. Another teaching strategy is to assign readings for discussion from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) website dedicated to “The Arts and Medicine,” a series that explores the intersection of “arts, culture and medicine” and may provide educators with ways to link course topics with interdisciplinary areas of interest. Another method of engagement could be to encourage professional students to review winning entries into the “Dance Your PhD” contest. This contest, sponsored by Science magazine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), encourages researchers to explain their projects through interpretive dance9. Students can choreograph an expressive, visual representation of their research or coursework. Or students may participate in performing arts service organizations which provide them with “a creative outlet, leadership opportunities, and patient contact experiences that can increase their compassion and empathy and better prepare them to be practicing clinicians.10”
To quote Albert Einstein, “The greatest scientists are artists as well.3” Educators and students should take this to heart in designing or completing professional education.
References:
1. Braund, M., Reiss, M.J. The ‘Great Divide’: How the Arts Contribute to Science and Science Education. Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ. 19, 219–236 (2019).
2. S.S. Ruppert. Critical evidence: How the arts benefit student achievement. 2006. Available from http://nasaa-arts.org/critical-evidence/.
3. Izadi, D. (2017). Arts in science education. Canadian Journal of Physics, 95(7), xliii–xlvi.
4. Scott PA. The relationship between the arts and medicine. Med Humanit. 2000;26(1):3-8. doi:10.1136/mh.26.1.3
5. Panda SC. Medicine: science or art?. Mens Sana Monogr. 2006;4(1):127-138. doi:10.4103/0973-1229.27610
6. Boyce EG, Lawson LA. Preprofessional curriculum in preparation for doctor of pharmacy educational programs. Am J Pharm Educ. 2009;73(8):155. doi:10.5688/aj7308155
7. https://www.acpe-accredit.org/pdf/Standards2016FINAL.pdf
8. https://jamanetwork.com/collections/44037/the-arts-and-medicine
9. https://www.sciencemag.org/projects/dance-your-phd
10. NewsRx. Study Results from Appalachian College of Pharmacy Update. Understanding of Pharmaceutical Education (A Community Service Organization Focused On the Arts To Develop Empathy In Pharmacy Students). Education Letter. June 10, 2020; p 533.
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