Humanities and Healthcare

“ViTaLS: Virtual Thinking and Learning Strategies – Enhancing Health Professions Education through VR Enabled Museum Art Experiences.”

The "ViTaLS" NIH-SBIR Grant is about innovation, collaboration, healthcare education, arts, and humanities. In terms of the University of Miami, this award reaches across colleges / schools (College of Arts and Sciences; Miller School of Medicine; School of Nursing and Health Studies; and University of Miami Libraries.) Recent Stanford Lectures through the Center for the Humanities (Spring 2023) by Professor Andrew Delbanco and another by Dean A-P Durand (October 3, 2025) covered this topic in general about the value and potential of Humanities disciplines.

Colleagues Robin White Owen and Michael Owen of MediaCombo are the lead on this small business grant that builds on the excellent work that the Lowe Art Museum has been doing since 2009 with “The Fine Art of Health Care” in the area of healthcare education + Visual Thinking Strategies and the visual arts, along with work that the Center for the Humanities has done in identifying creative synergy within and outside the humanities disciplines through earlier meetings concerning the Medical Humanities across university schools and colleges. University of Miami Libraries has also collaborated on this project, providing space for the study as well as expertise in Virtual Reality. 

“ViTaLS” Study Team

Robin White Owen, MediaCombo

Michael Owen, MediaCombo

Hope Torrents, Facilitator

Dr. Christina Larson, Center for the Humanities

Dr. Greta Mitzova-Vladinov, School of Nursing and Health Studies

Dr. Gauri Agarwal, Miller School of Medicine

Dr. Neva Kirk-Sanchez, Department of Physical Therapy

"VitalS" Additional Study Colleagues and Personnel

Cheryl Komanduri, School of Nursing and Health Studies

Dr. Tola Porter, Lowe Art Museum

Natasha Zabala, Lowe Art Museum

Melissa Diaz, Lowe Art Museum

Taha Zafar, Center for the Humanities

Tobi Ladeji, Center for the Humanities

Vanessa Rodriguez, University of Miami Libraries

Phuong Uyen Dang, University of Miami Libraries

Myles Devine, University of Miami Libraries

Sabrina Cuba, Miller School of Medicine

"ViTaLS" Articles + Announcements

University of Miami, Kyra Gurney, "Using art and virtual reality to train future health professionals," News@TheU / College of Arts and Sciences (October 17, 2025).

School of Nursing and Health Studies | Robin Shear, "Innovative Learning Through AI and VR," heartbeat (Fall 2025): 20-21.

MediaCombo, Robin White Owen, "Exciting News: MediaCombo Receives NIH Grant to Help Transform Healthcare Training," (October 29, 2025).

MediaCombo, ViTaLS: Visual Thinking and Learning Strategies / "MediaCombo Receives NIH SBIR Grant to Transform Healthcare Training".

WLRN Public Media, Sofia Baldinado "'Art Teaches Perspective': UM project explores virtual reality to improve clinical skills" (April 10, 2026).

School of Nursing and Health Studies | "Virtual Reality and Arts Aid Health Care," SONHSNews (April 15, 2026).

NIH-SBIR Grant: "ViTaLS" / Visual Thinking and Learning Strategies

 

Humanities and Healthcare Pathway

The Center for the Humanities is pleased to support the Millier School of Medicine's efforts to offer medical students the opportunity to explore humanistic study in the context of their medical education via the EThics and Medical Humanities (EMH) Pathway.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2010 established the Ethics and Medical Humanities Pathway to offer medical students educational opportunities in ethics and the humanities. These opportunities include core coursework, elective experiences, regular faculty mentoring and supervision, and a final project in the student’s area of interest.

The goal of the Pathway is to provide selected medical students with a coherent, substantial, educational experience in ethics and the humanities as they relate to the medical profession.  The vision is an integrated curriculum that enhances the study of clinical medicine by providing educational experiences in a variety of ethics- and humanities-related interests, including art, economics, philosophy, film and theater, history, law, literature and public policy. 

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