BWH Research Finds Formal Art Observation Training Improves Medical Students’ Visual Literacy and Diagnostic Skills

Link Here

A Harvard study has found that students improve their clinical skills during the basic physical examination by studying art. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as an art major turned medical student and something that I've written about in the past. This study certainly strengthens the argument that a medical education is in dire need of the humanities. And it certainly offers convincing evidence to those who believe that humanities or social science requirements for medical school entry serve no purpose.

When will clinicians understand the full power of observation? I find it hard to believe that it could really take a Harvard study to prove that learning to critically look at art has a generalized effect in specialties such as radiology and pathology that, if anything, border on an art form.