As medical education increasingly prioritises standardisation and algorithmic decision-making, the qualities that define the 'art' of medicine-improvisation, narrative attunement and observational depth-are often marginalised as non-essential 'soft skills'. This paper challenges that marginalisation by arguing that creativity is not merely an artistic flourish, but a pragmatic, core clinical competency essential for navigating the complex, indeterminate realities of modern patient care.Drawing on the educational theory of Donald Schön and the historical context of the Oslerian tradition, this article redefines creativity as an integrative meta-competency that encompasses and humanistically grounds a number of vitally important cognitive processes. It illustrates how the integration of the humanities into medical education cultivates the specific cognitive flexibility required for superior clinical reasoning, empathetic communication and resilience against burn-out.This manuscript is particularly relevant to the current landscape of medical humanities and medical education as it moves beyond the argument of humanities as 'enrichment'. Instead, it posits that in an era of digital dissociation and the rise of artificial intelligence, the uniquely human capacity for creative, moral imagination is the physician's most vital tool. By creating a direct link between humanities education and clinical outcomes-such as diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic alliance-this paper offers a robust framework for embedding these disciplines into the core of medical training.
Keywords: Medical humanities; art and medicine; medical education.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.