
In this extra post, Alan Barnard and Penny Barnard share their experience running the Family Medicine summer school 2024 at The University of Edinburgh. They showcase creative activities such as journal writing, art making and reflective exercises using found images and photography in teaching and learning professionalism, ethics and identity.
Teaching and learning in 2024 face increasing challenges, from the diversity of the student body to a need to develop and sustain multimodal learning, to the new normal of integrating distance and classroom learning. Students and staff share the common purpose of making connections, acquiring new knowledge, practicing skills and developing attributes that serve the purpose of their discipline and the communities that they serve.
Art and metaphor at the summer school
During July 2024, The University of Edinburgh hosted a family medicine summer school. International distance learning students on the Master of Family Medicine course gathered from Africa, Indonesia and the Caribbean to meet and learn together in Edinburgh. The teaching was designed around a three-stranded theme, professionalism, ethics and identity. The identify of the role of the participants as family doctors in their home contexts was examined and developed by the framing of two questions: “Who am I?” and “Who am I now?”. To this end, the academic programme was complemented by encouraging participation in three creative activities. These were journal writing, art making and reflective exercises using found images and photography.
Visual art in health sciences education is shown to affect observation and empathy and improve self-awareness and empathy (1,2). These are self-evident objectives of any health sciences education programme, but particularly important in family medicine.
The creative activities were conceived to encourage the students to express themselves in ways that were unfamiliar, and which challenged traditional models of teaching and learning. The fact that this was unfamiliar to most was a leveller, an icebreaker and an affirmation that the process of learning is just as important as the product, as with the production of a picture, or an image or a piece of creative writing. It was the express intention of the summer school to encourage participation and to hear the voices of every person, which we believe was facilitated by the use of these creative outlets.
The faculty members were also encouraged to use the creative activities, and this further addressed the diversity of the group and empowered the students of express themselves despite language and cultural differences. The camaraderie of discomfort shared by all who stood at the art table flattened the hierarchy and gave an opportunity for communication and encouragement to be offered to and by every participant; staff, student, expert, learner or guest, alike.
A journey metaphor supported the learning at the summer school, and the process of lifelong learning that is mandatory for all professionals, especially family doctors in our context. The diversity of prior learning style was acknowledged and addressed to encourage self-awareness The unfamiliar space offered a common baseline from which every participant could develop. The creative process of art making was another unspoken metaphor for the creative process of learning family medicine, with the process being the key to the learning.

There were several clearly expressed endorsements of the process, which were described as fun, enjoyable, intriguing and in two memorable personal accounts, enabled the student to access personal growth opportunities that had been unavailable until that time.
How did it work?
The creative learning support is described below, though the open art table was available at all times for those who wished to use it. Creative elements were integrated into the academic programme and were an important part of the sessions.
The art table at the back of the venue was available at any stage with paints, brushes, pastels, paper and collage materials. It was introduced and, as expected, the uptake was tentative at first. Some students made small items, like a card to take home. Faculty members and tutors were encouraged to join in which showed that all non-expert artists were welcome. As the display wall filled up with images, paintings and artifacts, the momentum increased.
One hour dedicated to an exercise in mark making was designed to address the inner critic in each of us. This workshop included making a self-portrait line drawing, a still life (without looking at the paper) and a mark making pastel and paint picture. The focus was on fun, creativity, observation, being surprised by the picture, ignoring the inner critic and not on the creation of a beautiful picture. This was a very productive session which was sensitively convened by a professional artist who skilfully led a session in techniques of drawing, which focused on the process and not the product. This was joyful and fun, and the creative wall was filled with shared images and development. This exercise bonded the group, which was an unexpected and welcome benefit. In the days that followed, students and staff used the art table to gather around, reflect, be creative and even used art as a coping mechanism when dealing with stressful issues.
What did we hope to achieve in using visual art in the MFM summer school?
We observed that the art was a language that was common to all participants, and it did level the playing field amongst the student participants and between students and staff. The act of doing something together and becoming vulnerable – nobody was an expert – seemed to contribute to improved self-knowledge and communication.
The process of art making linked with the daily facilitated reflection which was a key part of the programme and connected the journey metaphor to the academic content and the process of learning. We were able to explore the idea that life and learning journeys are full of imperfection and surprises. We learnt that stories, feelings and values are closely connected and scaffold our development.
As the week drew to a close, the participants were invited to study the gallery on the creative wall. This was a quiet and poignant time. Many students took their artwork home as a reminder of the week. Perhaps this was an acknowledgement of the role that visual art plays as a valuable adjunct to clinical learning. And that identity is revealed in complex ways, encompassing professional change and personal growth.
References
- Rezaei, S. et al. (2023) Using Visual Arts Education and Reflective Practice to Increase Empathy and Perspective Taking in Medical Students. MedEdPORTAL. [Online] 1911346–11346.
- Potash, J. S. et al. (2014) Art-making in a family medicine clerkship: how does it affect medical student empathy? BMC medical education. [Online] 14 (1), 247–247.
Alan Barnard
Alan Barnard MBChB MPhil is a Family doctor and teacher. Practicing medicine in Cape Town, South Africa, and contributor to the Master of family Medicine Programme, The University of Edinburgh.
Penny Barnard
Penny Barnard MSc is a Primary care nurse, artist and teacher. Caring for mothers and babies, exploring an artistic journey, and discovering visual art as a medium of teaching and learning.