VCU Schools of the Arts and Medicine launch Physician-Scientist in Residence program

Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts and VCU’s School of Medicine on Thursday announced that John E. Nestler, M.D. will serve as the first Physician-Scientist in Residence, where he will bring his in-depth knowledge of medical science, the local medical environment, and clinical research onto the arts campus. Dr. Nestler is the former chair of VCU’s Department of Internal Medicine and a member of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. He also holds joint appointments as professor in the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pharmacology and Toxicology.

The Physician-Scientist in Residence, one of the first residencies of its kind in an arts program, is part of an ongoing collaboration between VCUarts and the School of Medicine to help improve medical education and advance the clinical health and well-being in the community by addressing and solving problems through art and design.

“The creation of our Physician-Scientist in Residence program is fueling the frontier of artistic discovery within Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, and beyond,” said VCUarts Dean Shawn Brixey. “Dr. Nestler will accelerate the more than 20 existing collaborations between Arts and Medicine, helping to shape future discoveries. From using design to improve the daily lives of cancer patients to using virtual reality to treat patients with anxiety disorders, we can use our specialized creative skills to solve real-world problems. We are thrilled to have Dr. Nestler on board to help share our future discoveries.”

While serving in his residency, one of Dr. Nestler’s primary responsibilities will be the creation of a School of Medicine elective, “Medicine, Art and the Humanities.” The course, which is set to launch in spring 2019, will have a transdisciplinary approach, bringing together various arts principles and techniques, with the support of arts faculty members, to help bring new perspective to the medical student curriculum.

“We’ve seen lots of wonderful programs and projects grow out of partnerships between faculty from the School of Medicine and the School of the Arts,” said Peter F. Buckley, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “We are particularly enthusiastic about Dr. Nestler’s new role because he will be looking so broadly for new opportunities. From solutions to clinical problems to teaching medical students empathy, humanism and observation skills, or even building resiliency and fighting physician burnout, the intersection between arts and medicine has the potential to be life-changing.”

Another primary responsibility of the Physician-Scientist in Residence will be to assist with projects that come through the Arts Research Institute, which serves faculty in their creative research and interdisciplinary practices across the university. Some Arts Research Institute projects Dr. Nestler is currently involved with are Department of Theatre professor Aaron Anderson, Ph.D.’s simulated standardized patient program and Jill Ware and John Henry Blatter’s virtual reality project, “Embodied Empathy.”