Sarasota
Sarasota
Nicole Bentze , D . O . Dean , Sarasota Regional Campus
REGIONAL CAMPUS NEWS
Accessing both sides of the brain can help providers improve patient health
By Audrey Post , FSU College of Medicine
A collaboration among the Sarasota Regional Campus , the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System ’ s Community Specialty Clinic is teaching future physicians empathy , understanding and better communication and leadership skills by having them interact with art .
Third-year medical students spend half a day in early January learning about Visual Thinking Strategies ( VTS ). The Ringling ’ s education director , Katie Nickel , Ed . D ., guides each cohort ’ s exploration of art , beginning with how it makes each person feel . She helps them discover nonverbal cues , notice initially overlooked small details and then challenges them to use all five senses to experience a painting from within .
Nickel said doctors who value art are more likely to recommend it for their patients ’ well-being , as well as their own . And it ’ s good for their careers to learn the “ soft skills ” associated with the right side of the brain , because medical training tends to focus on the analytical left side of the brain . Nicole Bentze , D . O ., dean of the Sarasota Regional Campus , agreed .
Clinic director Rodica Vasilescu , Ph . D ., who is also clerkship faculty in internal medicine , said the students see patients and volunteer physicians modeling interconnectedness , which teaches them critical thinking , respectful bedside manner and servant leadership .
“ The arts teach skills that encourage medical students to take risks and help prepare them to become courageous leaders ,” Vasilescu said . The program will soon expand to include PA students at the Sarasota Regional Campus .
Bentze , Nickel and Vasilescu presented an overview of their collaboration at the annual Association of Academic Museums and Galleries 2024 Conference . They have been invited to present at the February 2025 meeting of Society of Teachers of Family Medicine .
“ While all patients want a well-educated physician , a vast majority also want humanistic qualities including compassion , empathy , trust and respect . Patients want to be listened to and share in the decision-making process , thus building a true patient-physician relationship ,” Bentze said . “ Museum education helps medical students consider other world views and to appreciate how each patient may experience illness differently .”
Students also complete a rotation through the Community Specialty Clinic , a free clinic for adults 18 and older in Sarasota County who are uninsured or under-insured . Thirty volunteer physicians see patients there , and 100 specialists will take their referrals pro bono .
From left , Katie Nickel , Ed . D ., Rodica Vasilescu , Ph . D .
WINTER 2025 27