Practicing Curiosity: An Art Museum-Based Course for Medical Students

Problem: Although curiosity is essential to medicine, it can sometimes seem expendable or counterproductive. Medical students, however, must be encouraged to develop curiosity skills in order to sustain a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. Incorporating visual art into medical education has been associated with multiple favorable outcomes, including improved observational skills. Undoubtedly, artworks stimulate curiosity. Of the many museum-based courses for medical students offered across the country, none have focused on enhancing curiosity skills. Thus, the development of a curriculum using visual art to improve curiosity skills would be an innovative pedagogical approach to museum-based education. Approach: A hospitalist at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center developed a museum-based course for medical students that focuses on enhancing curiosity skills (called Practicing Curiosity). The curriculum uses a multidimensional model of curiosity, and selected artworks speak to 1 or more of the curiosity dimensions. Participants practice curiosity skills as the course director makes direct connections to the practice of medicine. Outcomes: Two pilot sessions of Practicing Curiosity were implemented in 2024. The course was well-received by participating students. The selected artworks served as effective backdrops to discussions about the multidimensional nature of curiosity, which encouraged participants to practice individual curiosity skills. Next Steps: Practicing Curiosity will continue to be offered each year. Curiosity will be assessed before and after the course alongside a qualitative exploration of thematic relationships. If successful, further study of the Practicing Curiosity curriculum will call attention to the importance of curiosity in medical education. It will also demonstrate (1) how a multidimensional model of curiosity can be applied to the practice of medicine and (2) how visual art can be a lens through which medical students can explore individual curiosity dimensions.