A group of five University of Miami students used virtual reality headsets to gather around Rocco Marconi’s 1525 painting “Christ and the Adulteress" and passionately debate what it depicts.
The artwork shows a man at the center with an arm raised in a graceful gesture, surrounded by a large crowd. In the foreground, a woman stands facing him, her wrists bound with a cord, as she awaits judgment.
“The guy in the top right corner looks like he is just with his hand on his forehead, almost just waiting for Jesus to make a decision,” one observed. Another student opined, “I kind of view it as, like, they're defending potentially the woman.”
But these weren’t art majors. They were medical students, taking part in a new project that explores how visual arts in healthcare education can improve clinical practice — and even save lives.
The study, called "VITaLs" aims to build those abilities in doctors, as communication failures in hospitals are linked to an estimated 440,000 preventable deaths each year in the United States.
READ MORE: How The University Of Miami Uses Art To Train Future Doctors
“Art teaches you about perspective,” said Dr. Gauri Agarwal, an internal medicine physician at UM and a senior member of the project.
“If you’re looking at something and I’m looking at something and you have a radically different opinion than I do, that shakes my cognitive world,” Agarwal said. “Suddenly, I’m realizing my worldview is not everybody’s worldview, and that’s really important in medicine.”
The university has incorporated visual arts into its curriculum in recent years, but this is the first time the training has been delivered through a VR platform, which was created in partnership with creative technology studio MediaCombo.
Researchers say the shift helps address a recurring logistical challenge in bringing nursing, medical and physical therapy students together across campuses.
“A lot of it deals with distance, different campuses and trying to coordinate, it’s very challenging" Agarwal said. “There's a lot of benefit from getting members of the healthcare team learning together. They learn from each other and with each other.”
The study is in its first phase, bringing together groups of nine to 10 medical, nursing and physical therapy students in virtual reality sessions. Using headsets, they view and discuss paintings in a virtual gallery over three sessions led by Hope Torrents, a former museum educator at the Lowe Art Museum.
Participants complete surveys before and after the sessions to assess inter-professional learning, tolerance for ambiguity and communication skills.
Torrents guides discussions using Visual Thinking Strategies, or VTS, a method in which participants closely observe artwork and engage in facilitated group conversations. She asks three questions: What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can you find?
Torrents then paraphrases participants’ responses and directs attention to specific details in the artwork.
Previous research, including studies conducted at the university, has found the approach can improve empathy, active listening, analytical thinking and the ability to interpret clinical images.
“The whole point of medical school is to grow that intellect, but also be able to slow down and observe and understand perspective.”Dr Gauri Agarwal
Torrents has worked at the intersection of health care and the arts since 2010, writing about how museum-based learning can help reduce hierarchical dynamics in the medical field.
But in 2009, her work took on a new meaning when her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“I realized that miscommunication was a huge factor in the process of his not healing,” said Torrents.
Her husband passed away seven years after his diagnosis. While she was already involved in the intersection of art and medicine, Torrents said the experience propelled her to push for change.
“Now, when I walk into a doctor's office, if that doctor or that provider is on their computer and not engaging with me, I walk out of the office and I say, ‘I'm going to find somebody else,’” Torrents said.
The team behind the study hopes a virtual reality platform will broaden access to VTS activities, making them available from any location. After the first phase, researchers plan to expand the program to additional universities.
“You can have the smartest people be really terrible doctors,” said Agarwal. “The whole point of medical school is to grow that intellect, but also be able to slow down and observe and understand perspective.”
