Art, the Five Question Protocol, and Sensitive Issues in Healthcare

Beyond its use to introduce the role of observation in clinical practice, applying the Five Question Protocol (5QP) to works of art has also been effective to address sensitive issues in healthcare education. The museum setting itself proved an effective environment in which to discuss openly such topics as age, body image, gender, socio-economic status, race and religion. To introduce the flexibility of the 5QP protocol, selected here are examples of artwork in MAG’s collection that we have successfully used in a range of classes. MAG’s encyclopedic collection of over 12,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world art and culture have positioned us well to accommodate learning objectives posed by faculty in diverse disciplines and healthcare fields.