Flipped classroom on humanities: medicine, narrative and art

Encouraging empathy in medical students is important in medical education, as the core of medical practice is the relationship between doctors, patients and families. Empathy with patients is not only learned through reasoning (theory) but also through sensitivity. To support the development of humanistic skills, the dialogue between Science and art in virtual environments is simultaneously a challenge and an opportunity, especially in traditional lecture-based curricula. A module was developed in a virtual learning environment based on narrative medicine, with the purpose of discussing key subjects of adolescente health care. A group of multiprofessional teachers and students was recruited. The initial activity of each unit was the discussion of questions on a clinical case. Then, two exercises were completed. The faculty members found that students engaged with the materials provided more readily than expected. Use of a virtual environment that promotes the sharing of ideas, teamwork and collective construction of knowledge is an effective teaching strategy.