Year 3 and 4: Art in Medicine (AIM) Project: Clinical Elective

Department: Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine (AHHM) Program
Title:

Art in Medicine (AIM) Project

Diversification = Not classified

Location:

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Duration:

2 -3 weeks

Contact:

Please contact Dr Pamela Brett MacLean pbrett@ualberta before requesting this elective through MedSIS

Placement Contact:  Lisa Bussiere ahhm@ualberta.ca

Visiting Medical Students: contact visitingelectives@ualberta.ca

Overview:

This elective provides an opportunity for students in 3rd and 4th year to develop and express new understandings relevant to medicine through various art forms, including literary, visual and performing arts.

Arts-based research has developed as a form of inquiry inspired by "concepts, processes, and representation from the arts, broadly defined" (Knowles & Cole, 2008). It involves an immersive, experiential approach to inquiry that supports exploration into imaginative and aesthetic dimensions of experience through processes of close noticing, culminating in the creation of completed artwork(s). Arts-informed research approaches recognize that the arts provide an experiential approach to inquiry that engages the senses and emotions, as well as cognitive understanding, which together can serve to promote new understandings and insights.

After familiarizing themselves with the area of qualitative, arts-based inquiry (through literature, and online searches), students will develop a relatively concise, yet complex, guiding question and outline an arts-based approach they will use to explore their question.

In addition to the final artwork that is created, students are required to write a reflective narrative commentary or essay (~5 pages), describing new insights and understanding they experienced, aspects of the creative process that surprised them, and ways in which they may view the world and ways of knowing, differently, or not - having completed their arts-based inquiry.

Students are required to present on their elective project as part of the AHHM Occasional Speaker Series.

A pass/ fail grade will be assigned (as per the standard "Assessment of Elective Performance" form). Additional formal feedback will be provided upon request.

Students will be invited to complete a feedback form to help the elective coordinators improve this elective experience for students in subsequent years.

This elective requires an approved project proposal prior to submission of an elective application. Students interested in this elective are encouraged to arrange a meeting with Dr. Pamela Brett-MacLean.

Objectives:

Students will:

1) learn about qualitative, arts-based research and different ways of knowing,
2) develop new insights and deepen their understanding through arts-informed inquiry processes,
3) explore and represent new understandings developed through this inquiry process through the creation of artwork(s) and short reflective essay,
4) gain experience in preparing and giving an arts in medicine/medical humanities presentation.

Additional Notes:

NO PRE-EXISTING ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE, SKILLS OR TALENT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS ELECTIVE.

Depending on the inquiry approach that is proposed, an ethics protocol may need to be submitted to the Health Research Ethics Board (see https://tcps2core.ca/welcome). Although not recommended, given the time constraints associated with this elective, this is a choice that some UofA students have made. NB: This is NOT an option for visiting medical students.

For an example of a completed arts-informed clinical elective project, see Breton, J. (2011). Birth marks: An artistic exploration into the medical, personal, societal, and historical dimensions of postpartum depression (PPD) through a collection of sketches, collages, and journaling. University of Alberta Health Sciences Journal,
6(1), pp.10-11, 13-14 - http://www.uahsj.ualberta.ca/files/Issues/6-1/pdf/13.pdf . Students may seek to publish on some aspect of their work in a medical humanities
journal (e.g., Ars Medica, CMAJ's Humanities section), medical education journal (e.g., CMEJ), or other publication. Students can also submit their artwork projects to White Coat, Warm Art, an exhibit organized each year as part of the annual Canadian Conference on Medical Education (see https://www.teachingmedicine.com/galleries/Galleries.aspx?collection=9 Although not a requirement of the elective, students will be provided with advice should they be interested in pursuing these opportunities. This elective, along with other AHHM electives, exists to support medical students in broadening their intellectual and clinical/ practice-based horizons, in particular with respect to the intersections that exist between the arts and humanities in relation to medicine.

Optional reference resources:

  • Knowles JG, & Cole AL. (2008). Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: Perspectives, methodologies, examples, and issues. Sage.
  • Rolling JH Jr. (2010). A paradigm analysis of art-based research and implications for education. National Art Education Association Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 51(2), 102-114.
Last Updated: June 2, 2021