Muna Al-Khaifi, Lead of Breast Cancer Survivorship Program and GP oncologist, Skin Cancer Clinic at Sunnybrook, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I am very pleased to lead this project published “Through Their Eyes: A Breast Cancer Survivorship-Led Art Workshop for Undergraduate Medical Students.”
As breast cancer survivorship continues to grow, medical education must evolve to better prepare learners for patient-centered, survivorship-informed care. Traditional didactic teaching alone often falls short in cultivating empathy, reflection, and a meaningful understanding of patients’ lived experiences.
This study evaluated an innovative, survivorship-led, art-based workshop for undergraduate medical students, integrating patient storytelling with a clay-based reflective art activity. Students engaged emotionally and creatively with survivorship experiences rather than learning about them in the abstract. Participants reported deeper emotional engagement, increased empathy, enhanced self-awareness, and a stronger understanding of cancer survivorship.
From a Can MEDS lens, this approach supports key competencies including Communicator, Professional, Health Advocate, and Scholar roles — reinforcing the importance of humanism in medical training.
Humanism in medicine is foundational, yet empathy training remains limited in many curricula. While patient narratives are increasingly incorporated into education, art-based approaches may add unique value by deepening emotional insight, reflective capacity, and connection to lived experience.
This project was supported by the Art of the Possible Grant from the University of Toronto, Department of Family and Community Medicine this pilot work would not have been possible. We are grateful to DFCM for investing in innovative, small-scale educational projects that allow pilot studies to grow, generate evidence, and hopefully be expanded and scaled in the future.
Future directions include expanding survivorship-led, art-informed education across medical training programs; evaluating longitudinal impacts on learner attitudes and clinical practice; and adapting this model to other areas of chronic illness and survivorship care.”
Title: Through Their Eyes: A Breast Cancer Survivorship-Led Art Workshop for Undergraduate Medical Students
Authors: Muna Alkhaifi, Rebecca Starkman, Elwyn Zhang, Malika Peera, Preet Ahluwalia, Ellen Paonessa, Sylvia Langlois, Sarah Kim, Joyce Nyhof-Young
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