{"id":644542,"date":"2025-04-08T14:36:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T18:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=644542"},"modified":"2025-11-19T07:58:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:58:25","slug":"art-of-observation-medical-students-clinicians-biases-644542","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/art-of-observation-medical-students-clinicians-biases-644542\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to be a better doctor or nurse? Take a look at this painting."},"content":{"rendered":"

Rochester\u2019s Art of Observation program helps medical students and clinicians cultivate essential clinical skills.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After a day of seeing and treating patients, eight faculty-physicians from the University of Rochester<\/a> Medical Center<\/a> met at the University\u2019s Memorial Art Gallery<\/a> (MAG). They sat on folding stools before a painting of a woman and three children gathered around a table, on which the woman appeared to be cutting something. Pink sticky notes concealed the painting\u2019s label with its title, artist, and other context.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you see?\u201d said Natercia Rodrigues \u201919M (MS)<\/a>, an assistant professor at the School of Medicine and Dentistry<\/a>, a family physician in the UR Medicine Primary Care network, and the group\u2019s facilitator.<\/p>\n

Rodrigues had just asked the first question of the Five Question Protocol (5QP)<\/a>, the lynchpin of the Art of Observation partnership between the University\u2019s medical school, the School of Nursing<\/a>, and the museum.<\/p>\n

Designed to enhance observational skills for healthcare professionals, the sustained viewing and structured dialogue help participants unpack their assumptions, consider different perspectives, and avoid jumping to conclusions\u2014among other cognitive biases\u2014based on titles, dates, or locations. (That information is only revealed with the fourth question, when the sticky notes come off.)<\/p>\n

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