Students from the Omaha and Kearney campuses in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions physician assistant program visited the Chihuly Sanctuary at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center as part of a medical humanities project.
In small groups, the students experienced the healing environment from the beautiful Dale Chihuly glass art.
The visits were intended to help students understand the perspective that the healing environment creates for patients, their families, providers, hospital staff and all who visit the Chihuly Sanctuary. Studies have shown that exposure to the arts can enhance provider traits such as empathy, compassion and self-awareness, as well as reduce burnout.
It was led by Amy Morris, PhD, director of the School of the Arts at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The Integration of Humanities and Arts in Physician Assistant Education project is a collaboration between 11 faculty from UNMC’s physician assistant program, the UNMC College of Nursing and UNO’s College of Arts & Science and College of Communications, Fine Arts and Media. The project is in its second year and recently was awarded an University of Nebraska Collaboration Initiative Grant.
Watch this video from UNMC’s Rich Watson on the experience: