Joplin, MO – A day of expert insight into the intersection and importance of art within the practice of medicine will be offered during the Artful Medicine Symposium on Friday, Nov. 18, at Missouri Southern State University.
The symposium will take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with activities planned in the North End Zone Facility as well as the Fine Arts Complex.
The event is designed to explore the relationship of art and the humanities with medicine, investigating how the active experience of the arts improves health care delivery and patient outcomes. It is presented by the Department of Biology and the Department of Art and Design, along with the Caduceus Club.
“The Artful Medicine Symposium was developed as a way to formally address how art and medicine come together to enhance humanity,” said Dr. Alla Barry, professor of biology.
“They can also be used as an educational component to help our student clinicians relate better to patients, make better clinical diagnoses, and ultimately become better health-care providers.”
The keynote address will be “Art-Based Curriculum in Medical Education” by Dr. Shoen Kruse, vice provost of academic affairs and integrated learning at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.
The Caduceus Club will then host a juried creative and scientific research competition featuring topics related to art and medicine. Student entries will be eligible for awards in poster and anatomical model/artistic display categories.
Following lunch, a series of hands-on workshops will be offered by the Department of Art and Design for participants to gain medically relevant fine motor skills. Activities will include a range of media, including ceramics, fibers, drawing and painting.
A roundtable discussion on “The Healing Powers of Art” will examine how art and creativity affect the brain, body and behavior. Panelists will include Dr. Jeffery Bradley, a psychiatrist with Freeman Health System; Lori Marble, an artist and art-therapy patient; and Dr. Angela Pierce, director of COM preclinical assessment/associate professor of physiology with Kansas City University.