Green MJ. Comics and medicine: peering into the process of professional identity formation. Acad Med. 2015 Jun; 90(06): 774-9.
Problem:
Medical students experience transformative personal and professional
changes during medical school. The medical education community has much
to learn about how students perceive these changes, which can be
dramatic and profound.
Approach:
Over the past six years (2009–2014), the author has taught a course on
medical graphic narratives (or comics) to fourth-year medical students.
Comics synergistically combine words and images to tell stories and
provide an effective vehicle for helping students reflect on and give
voice to varied experiences. In this course, students critically read
and discuss medically themed comics and create their own original comic
depicting a formative experience from medical school.
Outcomes:
To date, 58 students have taken the course, and each has produced an
original comic. The author conducted a thematic analysis of their comics
and identified the following themes: (1) how I found my niche, (2) the
medical student as patient, (3) reflections on a transformative
experience, (4) connecting with a patient, and (5) the triumphs and
challenges of becoming a doctor. Pre/post course assessments indicate
that students believe creating a comic can significantly improve a
variety of doctoring skills and attitudes, including empathy,
communication, clinical reasoning, writing, attention to nonverbal cues,
and awareness of physician bias. Students’ comics reveal the impact of
formative events on their professional identity formation.
Next Steps:
Medical educators should explore additional ways to effectively
integrate comics into medical school curricula and develop robust tools
for evaluating their short- and long-term impact.
