Kahlo and Beyond: The Importance of Art and Medical Humanities in Physical Therapy

Sacks once wrote, "May it, indeed, be impossible to comprehend the disease, even define it, without reference to the diseased individual?"3 The individual narrative of Kahlo, as so effectively related by Courtney et al, truly helps us understand her condition of chronic pain more completely-and reminds us that our patients' stories can help us more effectively manage our patients' experience living with difficult health conditions. [...]in our professional education program, we incorporate a series on art and the medical humanities as a requirement for all doctor of physical therapy students. [...]the arts and humanities are pleasurable on a fundamental level, and the intrinsic value in that cannot be overlooked.6 Coincidentally, during one of our humanities sessions, we use a painting included in the article, "The Broken Column," to discuss the experience of disability as we consider autonomy and interdependence.