About Us
Developed by a consortium of educators and physicians at Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, and leading museums and arts institutions across Philadelphia, the rx/museum initiative features a curated series of 52 artworks and essayistic reflections that embody the interplay between museums and medicine.
Every Monday, our community of over 1,200 subscribers receives an artwork in their inbox accompanied by insightful commentary about medicine as a humanistic practice. Each reflection examines traditionally challenging themes for clinicians - managing uncertainty, nuance, ambiguity and preconceived notions of death, illness, and suffering.
visit us at association of american medical colleges, american society of anesthesiologists: well-being resources, perelman school of medicine office of academic affairs, penn cobalt, penn medicine together, health ecologies lab, slought, twitter
Graphic by Sofia Arruda, M.A.
Partners
THE RX/MUSEUM INITIATIVE IS A PILOT PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIOLOGY AND CRITICAL CARE, LED BY THE HEALTH ECOLOGIES LAB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, BARNES FOUNDATION, AND SLOUGHT.
modest SEED FUNDING FOR THE INITIATIVE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE SACHS PROGRAM for ARTS INNOVATION at the university of pennsylvania.
faculty directors
AARON LEVY, PHD, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
LYNDSAY HOY, MD, PENN MEDICINE
editorial director
ella comberg, slought
CURATORIAL/EDITORIAL TEAM
BILL PERTHES, BARNES FOUNDATION
theresa a. cunningham, phd, philadelphia museum of art
ADAM RIZZO, PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
jason han, md, penn medicine
jeffrey millstein, md, penn medicine
horace delisser, md, penn medicine
Special thanks to carolyn chow, Pauline Colas, Carmina Hachenberg, IVY LIU, armaun rouhi, sofia arruda, aarushi parikh, sarah finkelstein, christine kong, sally nijim, millie huang & students in The Literature of Care course (2020).
Testimonials
“As humans, our health connects us to uncertainty, mortality, faith, autonomy and more. So does art — and Rx/Museum, a thoughtful project that connects art and medicine, finds themes of health and humanity in both.”
—The Washington Post
"A wonderful way to provide reflection, respite, and calm for people who are struggling in one of the most demanding professions, especially now. The use of art in medical schools to help train students and also using it in healthcare settings to help medical professionals is growing and it’s great to see rx/museum taking it on."
—National Endowment for the Arts
“The Professionalism competency includes “compassion, integrity, and respect for others” as well as “respect and responsiveness to diverse patient populations.” The Rx/Museum Initiative offers a collection of 52 artworks and essay reflections. Faculty could select artworks by looking at themes such as inequity, self-actualization, and autonomy and partner with art instructors from their institution or a local artist to co-facilitate learner discussion.”
—association of american medical colleges
“We truly treasure seeing the Rx/Museum e-mails each week, which gives us a chance to escape and ponder humanistic concepts in the midst of the day. On behalf of the department, thank you for this phenomenal work!”
—department of anesthesiology and critical care, university of pennsylvania
“Through reflecting on artworks and thinking critically about their meaning, we come to realize that the habit of gazing deeply and thoughtfully into humanity carries over to the art of patient care, too. In this regard, Rx/Museum is a powerful antidote to how many healthcare workers feel increasingly distanced from their patients in this rapidly modernizing system.”
—jason han, md, cardiac surgery resident, hospital of the university of pennsylvania
Collaborations such as RX/Museum are incredibly difficult to coordinate and sustain but the demonstrated need for programs such as this is evident by its growing numbers of readers. We now know the importance of such projects from studies such as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2018 consensus report on the urgency of integrating the arts and humanities in medical training; and the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing. A recent WHO report (Fancourt, 2019) reported results from over 3000 studies found a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, and management and treatment of illness. RX/Museum is an important experiment demonstrating the arts and humanities link for wellness and recovery for emerging U.S. physicians and those that they care for.
—Maryrose Flanigan, The Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities
