Ricerc@Sapienza

This study describes how Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as a methodological practice can help medical students learn and acquire analytical ability. This ability, capable of improving observational acumen and generally acquired only after years of clinical experience, may be achieved also by recourse to the systematic and reasoned examination of the visual arts, in particular paintings.

This year, the International Journal “Medicina nei Secoli” – Journal of the History of Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy – inaugurated a special section entitled “Leonardo’s Corner”, dedicated to Medical Humanities and Museums. Medicine remains a combination of art and science. Therefore, the humanism that has always distinguished it from the other sciences must be integrated also into a technical and specialised training.