Greetings from Cambridge! This roving social worker (well, roving for one weekend!) just finished day 1 of a Harvard University-sponsored “conference” (more on that later) on art museums and medical education–a day filled with shared excitement, enthusiasm, and exploration. I say “conference”, because it’s really meant to be a conversation between disciplines rather than a traditional museum symposium or conference. At any rate, the day began with a series of museum explorations throughout the Sackler galleries. These experiences included writing and sketching, discussions about grief and loss (thanks, Ray, for the great story about the Buddha and a quest for a mustard seed!), and the creation of metaphors in exploring contemporary art, my favorite of which consisted of comparing a lead sculpture by Richard Serra to either two medical patients with similar scars but very different histories or relating the relationship of the sculpture to the wall that supported it to the patient and his/her support system. Just a taste of the kind of cross-disciplinary talk going on here this weekend.

The conference also brings to consideration the role of art museums in other professions…say, for instance, social work. There are three social workers here at the conference (an art museum record?), and a lot of the conversation has revolved around how medical education erodes empathy and how art museums can counteract that. Social work education does quite the opposite, in fact, increasing the student’s awareness of oneself in context of others and definitely enhancing one’s empathy. How does that impact interventions for our profession then? One thing we share, however, is the risk of erosion of empathy over years of practice. More thoughts to come…

Over 60 % of the attendees represent the medical field, and the air is fertile with possible and in-progress conversations across disciplines. I must admit that it’s a nice twist to be able to offer the medical profession something special. Too frequently, whether we should or not, we place our medical professionals on a pedestal and look to them for cures, healing, guidance, and miracles, even when there are none to be had. To be sure, they give much to the  world, and it’s really an amazing experience to think that art museums, who also have a lot to offer, can give back to the medical profession. It brings to mind the strength of art museums, and that is their unique ability to provide a sanctuary in which shared human experience can truly be understood and appreciated.