Objective: To investigate the effect of art observation on the visual diagnostic skills of medical students.
Design: Systematic literature review.
Method: We searched for relevant articles in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, and screened the references of these articles through Web of Science for additional literature. Subsequently, data from all included articles were extracted and critically appraised.
Results: In total, we retrieved 7 relevant articles, each of which reported positive effects of art observation on the visual diagnostic skills of the participants. These effects included improved general or detailed observation, and increased recognition of patterns and emotions.
Conclusion: Based on the available literature, art observation seems to have a positive effect on the visual diagnostic skills of medical students. However, the evidence is rather poor due to methodological limitations of the individual studies. It is therefore premature to conclude that art observation should be embedded in the medical curricula. Additional randomised studies are necessary to confirm the added value of this teaching method.