UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Impressionism and the Art of Medical Communication” will be on display in the Borland Project Space (125 Borland) from Tuesday, April 4, to Thursday, April 13.
This exhibition presents the work of students from the course “Impressionism and the Art of Medical Communication,” a Penn State College of Medicine course co-taught by Michael Flanagan, E. Eugene Marsh, Nancy Locke, Sarah Wharton and Dana Carlisle Kletchka, faculty in the Department of Art History, the College of Medicine, and School of Visual Arts. In the course, Impressionism and active painting are used as teaching and learning tools for effective medical communication. On view in the exhibition are student paintings created in response to the close study of Impressionist masterworks.
A critical skill for physicians is the ability to communicate effectively with patients. The Impressionist artists of the 19th century redefined communication through art by relying heavily on observation and rejecting cognitive biases of the day. As such, painters that launched the Impressionist movement provide useful metaphors for the study of medical communication in the present.
Participating students include: Sudhanshu Bhatnagar, Bai Yi Chen, Elizabeth Curry, Nisha Hariharan, Kelsie Herring, Meghan Mack, Adeline Melvin, Mark Nakhla, Michael Nakhla, Hong Loan Nguyen, Jillian Parsons, Louis-Bassett Porter, Ida "Melissa" Solis, Brooke Pabst-Whiteko and Alexander Zoretich.
For more information, visit the Borland Project Space website: http://borlandprojectspace.psu.edu/
For more information on Art History professor Nancy Locke’s role in the course, visit https://artsandarchitecture.psu.edu/news/art-history-professor-uses-impressionism-teach-med-students-about-communication.