Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Scoping Review

Vol. 20 No. 2 (2022): New Horizons: Innovation in Medicine

Applied Theatre and Drama in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Scoping Review

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26443/mjm.v20i2.930
Submitted
August 10, 2021
Published
2022-07-06

Abstract

Background: Thematic arts have been integrated throughout various undergraduate medical education programs to improve students’ clinical skills, knowledge, and behaviours to be clinically competent physicians. Applied theatre and drama use theatrical performances and exercises respectively to guide education. Several medical schools across Canada and the United States have incorporated applied theatre and drama within their curriculums, but there is currently no compilation of these initiatives.  

 

Methods: Using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework for scoping reviews, the two authors searched journal databases for articles pertaining to theatre/drama activities being used in undergraduate medical education in Canada and the United States; search terms revolved around applied theatre and undergraduate medical education. Twenty articles were read in full, 14 were included in this review. The articles were subjected to content analysis to understand how these studies connected with the CanMEDS framework to understand the impacts and merits of applied theatre and drama in undergraduate medical education.

 

Results: Content analyses generated three parent-categories of how theatre and drama can help medical students improve their communication skills, creative medical learning, and aid their professional development. These three categories touched upon all seven aspects of the CanMEDS framework, indicating the values of drama being included in medical education.

 

Conclusion: This scoping review illustrates the intersections of thematic arts in undergraduate medical education by highlighting how applied theatre or drama activities connect to the entire CanMEDS framework. This review provides insights to current theatre and drama initiatives to aid medical faculty with their undergraduate medical curricula developments.

References

  1. Kallail KJ, Shaw P, Hughes T, Berardo B. Enriching Medical Student Learning Experiences. J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2020 Jan 23;7:238212052090216. DOI:10.1177/2382120520902160
  2. Yardley S, Teunissen PW, Dornan T. Experiential learning: Transforming theory into practice. Med Teach. 2012 Feb;34(2):161–4. DOI:10.3109/0142159X.2012.643264
  3. Etherton M, Prentki T. Drama for change? Prove it! Impact assessment in applied theatre. Res Drama Educ J Appl Theatr Perform. 2006 Jun;11(2):139–55. DOI:10.1080/13569780600670718
  4. Obermueller J. Applied Theatre: History, Practice, and Place in American Higher Education. Theses and Dissertations. 2013. DOI:https://doi.org/10.25772/Y9JK-TJ19
  5. Kelly M, Nixon L, Broadfoot K, Hofmeister M, Dornan T. Drama to promote non-verbal communication skills. Clin Teach. 2019;16(2):108–13. DOI:10.1111/tct.12791
  6. Hoffman A, Utley B, Ciccarone D. Improving medical student communication skills through improvisational theatre. Med Educ. 2008 May;42(5):537–8. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03077.x
  7. Salam T, Collins M, Baker AM. All the world’s a stage: Integrating theater and medicine for interprofessional team building in physician and nurse residency programs. Ochsner J. 2012 Dec;12(4):359–62.
  8. Keskinis C, Bafitis V, Karailidou P, Pagonidou C, Pantelidis P, Rampotas A, et al. The use of theatre in medical education in the emergency cases school: an appealing and widely accessible way of learning. Perspect Med Educ. 2017 Jun 1;6(3):199. DOI:10.1007/S40037-017-0350-4
  9. Lorenz KA, Steckart MJ, Rosenfeld KE. End-of-Life Education Using the Dramatic Arts: The Wit Educational Initiative. Acad Med. 2004;79(5):481–6. DOI:10.1097/00001888-200405000-00020
  10. Deloney LA, Graham CJ. Developments: Wit: Using Drama to Teach First-Year Medical Students about Empathy and Compassion. Teach Learn Med. 2003;15(4):247–51. DOI:10.1207/S15328015TLM1504_06
  11. Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Methodol Theory Pract. 2005 Feb;8(1):19–32. DOI:10.1080/1364557032000119616
  12. Levac D, Colquhoun H, O’Brien KK. Scoping studies: Advancing the methodology. Implement Sci. 2010 Sep 20;5(1):69. DOI:10.1186/1748-5908-5-69
  13. Grant MJ, Booth A. A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Info Libr J. 2009 Jun 1;26(2):91–108. DOI:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
  14. Hsieh HF, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res. 2005;15(9):1277–88. DOI:10.1177/1049732305276687
  15. White MD, Marsh EE. Content analysis: A flexible methodology. Libr Trends. 2006;55(1):22–45. DOI:10.1353/lib.2006.0053
  16. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: CanMEDS Framework [Internet]. 2018. Available from: http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/canmeds/canmeds-framework-e Available From:http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/canmeds/canmeds-framework-e
  17. Rosenbaum ME, Ferguson KJ, Herwaldt LA. In their own words: Presenting the patient’s perspective using research-based theatre. Med Educ. 2005 Jun;39(6):622–31. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02181.x
  18. Salas R, Steele K, Lin A, Loe C, Gauna L, Jafar-Nejad P. Playback Theatre as a tool to enhance communication in medical education. Med Educ Online. 2013;18:22622. DOI:10.3402/meo.v18i0.22622
  19. Watson K. Perspective: Serious play: Teaching medical skills with improvisational theater techniques. Acad Med. 2011;86(10):1260–5. DOI:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31822cf858
  20. Ballon BC, Silver I, Fidler D. Headspace theater: An innovative method for experiential learning of psychiatric symptomatology using modified role-playing and improvisational theater techniques. Acad Psychiatry. 2007;31(5):380–7. DOI:10.1176/appi.ap.31.5.380
  21. Reilly JM, Trial J, Piver DE, Schaff PB. Using Theater to Increase Empathy Training in Medical Students. J Learn through Arts A Res J Arts Integr Sch Communities. 2012 Mar 2;8(1). DOI:10.21977/d9812646
  22. Nagji A, Brett-MacLean P, Breault L. Exploring the Benefits of an Optional Theatre Module on Medical Student Well-Being. Teach Learn Med. 2013;25(3):201–6. DOI:10.1080/10401334.2013.801774
  23. Shapiro J, Hunt L. All the world’s a stage: The use of theatrical performance in medical education. Med Educ. 2003;37(10):922–7. DOI:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2003.01634.x
  24. Hammer RR, Rian JD, Gregory JK, Bostwick JM, Birk CB, Chalfant L, et al. Telling the Patient’s Story: Using theatre training to improve case presentation skills. Med Humanit. 2011 Jun;37(1):18–22. DOI:10.1136/jmh.2010.006429
  25. Skye EP, Wagenschutz H, Steiger JA, Kumagai AK. Use of Interactive Theater and Role Play to Develop Medical Students’ Skills in Breaking Bad News. J Cancer Educ. 2014;29(4):704–8. DOI:10.1007/s13187-014-0641-y
  26. D’Alessandro PR, Frager G. Theatre: An innovative teaching tool integrated into core undergraduate medical curriculum. Arts Heal. 2014;6(3):191–204. DOI:10.1080/17533015.2013.822398
  27. VanDewark K. CanMEDS Physician Health Guide: A Practical Handbook for Physician Health and Well-being. Univ Toronto Med J. 2010;87(3):125. DOI:10.5015/utmj.v87i3.1262
  28. Saldaña J. Ethnotheatre: Research from Page to Stage. Routledge; 2016. DOI:10.4324/9781315428932
  29. Saldaña J. Dramatizing Data: A Primer. Qual Inq. 2003 Jun 29;9(2):218–36. DOI:10.1177/1077800402250932
  30. Kontos PC, Naglie G. Expressions of personhood in Alzheimer’s: Moving from ethnographic text to performing ethnography. Qual Res. 2006 Nov 7;6(3):301–17. DOI:10.1177/1468794106065005
  31. Case GA, Brauner DJ. Perspective: The doctor as performer: A proposal for change based on a performance studies paradigm. Acad Med. 2010;85(1):159–63. DOI:10.1097/ACM.0B013E3181C427EB
  32. Felsman P, Gunawardena S, Seifert CM. Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being. Think Ski Creat. 2020 Mar 1;35:100632. DOI:10.1016/J.TSC.2020.100632
  33. Fares J, Al Tabosh H, Saadeddin Z, El Mouhayyar C, Aridi H. Stress, burnout and coping strategies in preclinical medical students. N Am J Med Sci. 2016 Feb 1;8(2):75–81. DOI:10.4103/1947-2714.177299

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.