Fostering Reflection-in-Action through a Performance Arts Workshop

Abstract

In September 2013, a new Medical Humanities curriculum was launched as part of the core medical programme at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Drawing upon the fine arts, performance arts, literature, history, and the social sciences and engaging in teaching and learning activities including interactive lectures and experiential workshops, the year 1 class of 210 undergraduate medical students explored issues related to “what is meant by the medical humanities”, “the person behind the white coat” and “the history of medicine in Hong Kong”. Performance arts, such as drama, have been used successfully in other settings to explore themes relevant to medical practice and to build skills transferable to clinical work (Jeffrey, Goddard, & Jeffrey, 2012). In addition, we introduced the concept of reflection-in-action (Schon, 1987) in which students demonstrated how their thinking was reframed while they were doing a task, in response to an unexpected or unsettling idea or outcome. This concurrent action and reflection on the issues raised in the workshop was central towards consolidating concepts, challenging ideas, and developing self-understanding. We present an approach used during the performance arts workshop which specifically addressed the issues relating to “the person behind the white coat” and as an educational avenue to foster student reflection-in-action.