Being Human: Envisioning the Future of Museum-Based Education for Health Professionals

The arts and humanities are fundamental to health professions education and can substantially enhance clinician empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, and openness to new perspectives. Museum-based education for health professionals (MBE-HP) has particular potential to achieve these aims but remains a nascent field of practice and study. To catalyze the growth of MBE-HP, a convening of 50 individuals from the United States and Canada, including museum educators and health professions educators, administrators, researchers, and learners, as well as patrons of the arts, was held for 3 days in December 2023 in Washington, DC. Activities included 7 distinct MBE-HP experiences at 5 national museums as well as facilitated discussions. This article describes the purpose and design of this unique gathering and summarizes its key outcomes. Through their shared experiences and discussions, participants developed a definition of MBE-HP as an approach that can occur in museums, other in-person settings, and/or online, which is informed by museum-based education adapted for health professional learners and involves exploring and/or creating visual and other forms of art, as well as individual and group reflection on these activities. Participants also developed strategies to advance MBE-HP and steps that can be taken by individuals, programs, and institutions involved in health professions education, as well as changes that may influence health professions education systems, such as professional organizations' sponsorship, private and public funding, evidence generation through research, and changes to regulations and policymaking. Museum-based education for health professionals is reaching critical mass, backed by science and supported by an increasing collection of resources for health professions educators; the definitions and strategies outlined here may be of value to stakeholders seeking to move MBE-HP into the mainstream to realize its potential to benefit learners, educators, patients, and communities.