Visual thinking strategies nei percorsi di formazione sanitaria: un’analisi della letteratura

Abstract

Introduction

The purpose of this systematic review is to analyzeVisual thinking strategies through the lens of medical pedagogy and medical humanities. The study intends to explore the most recent applications reflecting on the effectiveness of the educational methodology in medical and healthcare professionals training.

Methods

The literature review focuses on Visual Thinking strategiesfor both academic and “on the job” training of health professionals. The articles research was carried out consulting the Medline / PubMed and Scopus databases.

Results

The scientific community shows an unanimous consensus about benefits of  art exposure and related discussions

but using visual data in educational contexts raises complex considerations of ethical, methodological and theoretical / epistemological nature.

Discussion

We identified some benefits that can be summarized in two main domains. A “domain of technical rationality”, which includes clinical reasoning, problem solving, critical thinking, descriptive and observational skills and a “domain of humanity” that includes empathy, tolerance of uncertainty and acceptance of multiplicity. We coined the expression “domain of professionalism”, where the empathic communication is a requirement, identity and otherness are balanced and includes a good ability to negotiate conflicts.