british art museum
today we had no class--instead, 1/2 of our class went to a british art museum! what does art have to do with medicine you ask? well, apparently, they did this study on med students and found that people who went thru this "art project" were better observers of people and patients. basically, it started when this art docent lady (whose husband is head orthopedics here at Yale) saw one of his residents basically ignore the obvious body language a patient was giving him. The patient looked stressed, worried, scared..and he talked plain old professional to her and just left. This docent lady talked to her husband (the dr) to initiate a program for residents to look at real art and learn to observe the emotions coming from it...but the dr said, why start at the residents? let's start at the medical school! so that's where we come in. =)
so basically we were assigned to look at one painting each for 10 min., and only describe it based on observation but no interpretation. for example, we can say, "i see an old guy sitting down, hand on his cane, and chin on his hand, hunched over, eyes closed." we cannot say, "i seen an tired old man, or i see a man sleep on his cane, etc." afterwards, we each had to present our painting to our group, and people added things that we missed, and finally we made interpretations and assumptions out of what we saw all together.
i was very surprised at what i learned! 1) we always tend to interpret. this is one way kids are better--they haven't quite learned to connect the dots, while as adults, we love to jump to conclusions. 2) our interpretation can be far different from another person's interpretation, even though we are all in the medical field! learn to share ideas and brainpower! 3) minute details often give you the answer. 4) yet don't forget to look at the overall picture, including the background and setting for a "feel" of the scene.
the museum was lovely--only 10 min away by walking! i know new haven is full of artsy theaters and museums, but i just haven't had a chance to really explore. i plan to revisit that place again, and practice my observational skills once more!
so basically we were assigned to look at one painting each for 10 min., and only describe it based on observation but no interpretation. for example, we can say, "i see an old guy sitting down, hand on his cane, and chin on his hand, hunched over, eyes closed." we cannot say, "i seen an tired old man, or i see a man sleep on his cane, etc." afterwards, we each had to present our painting to our group, and people added things that we missed, and finally we made interpretations and assumptions out of what we saw all together.
i was very surprised at what i learned! 1) we always tend to interpret. this is one way kids are better--they haven't quite learned to connect the dots, while as adults, we love to jump to conclusions. 2) our interpretation can be far different from another person's interpretation, even though we are all in the medical field! learn to share ideas and brainpower! 3) minute details often give you the answer. 4) yet don't forget to look at the overall picture, including the background and setting for a "feel" of the scene.
the museum was lovely--only 10 min away by walking! i know new haven is full of artsy theaters and museums, but i just haven't had a chance to really explore. i plan to revisit that place again, and practice my observational skills once more!
posted by CookieMonster28 at 2:45 PM
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