Art and activism in medical education: a modern necessity

Abstract

Artivism is the use of visual art to promote activism and foster meaningful action and change. This commentary argues that artivism should be embraced and utilised more consistently in medical education and healthcare advocacy related efforts. A brief history of artivism, rationale for use, and one approach for implementation based on the author’s experience is shared.

Keywords:

• Humanities
• visual arts
• art in medicine
• advocacy
• medical education

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the students, faculty, staff, and leadership with the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics for their support and encouragement in the development of this course. A note of thanks is also necessary for the generous and thoughtful faculty with the Harvard Macy Art Museum-based Health Professions Education Fellowship and the 2022 cohort of fellows for the pedagogical foundation and insight necessary to support the author’s work at the intersection of art and medical education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).