Compulsory Creativity and Clinical Encounters

Bristol Medical School has a long and rich history of “compulsory creativity” exploring the arts in medicine as well as the art of medicine (1). The COGConnect framework for teaching and learning Effective Consulting (2, 3) centres five core values for all students and graduates in clinical encounters, including Creativity. Additionally, one of the phases of COGConnect is Integrating, in which we are challenged to answer the question “Have I integrated this consultation effectively?” both by updating the clinical record, noting and acting on learning needs, and dealing with feelings evoked by the consultation. Creative work is one avenue for effective Integration.
Students at Bristol have dedicated tutorials in the Art of Medicine. They produce group art work for a “Foundations of Medicine” conference at the end of their first teaching block and individual creative submissions exploring the humanity (and humanities) within clinical encounters as part of their Effective Consulting Course. Creative work is an innovative way for students to go beyond logical reflection to the often unexplored aspects of medicine. For many students this facilitates the development of creativity as a tool box for self-exploration, patient understanding and self-compassion and for some they go on to share their work more widely (4, 5)
This Creative Exhibition will showcase some of the best student work from the last 5 years, and demonstrate the depth of reflection and understanding this type of creative endeavour can provide. A curated selection of work can be viewed in advance here https://outofourheads.net/