The treachery of images: how Rene Magritte informs medical education.

The treachery of images: how Rene Magritte informs medical education.

Wear Delese; Zarconi Joseph

Journal of general internal medicine

2011

2011-04

Using Rene Magritte's well-known painting The Treachery of Images (This is not a pipe), we argue that the current focus on competencies throughout medical education can sometimes lead educators to rely too heavily on scores, checkmarks, or other forms of assessment that come to be viewed as equivalents for the actual existence of what is being measured. Magritte insisted that the image he created on the canvas was not a pipe but rather a representation of a pipe, an important distinction for educators to remember as we seek ways to evaluate trainees' attainment of the fundamental knowledge and skills of the profession. We also urge that the focus on broader skills, values, flexibility, reflection, and insight development should fall outside the net of a competency orientation in a supportive environment spared from traditional assessment methods, using a classroom in undergraduate medical education as an example of working toward this end.

*Medicine in the Arts; Competency-Based Education/methods; Education; Educational Measurement/methods; Humans; Medical/*methods; Paintings/*psychology; Teaching/methods

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437–439

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