Pioneering Structured Ethics Education & The Art of Medicine
Jane Kang, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology and a bioethicist with a Masters of Bioethics from Columbia University. Dr. Kang has many accomplishments and positions of distinction—she was the Rheumatology Fellowship Program Director for over a decade, was named an Ewig Clinical Scholar for her work in teaching and education, received a Fellowship Training Award and Clinician Scholar Educator Award from the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF), and also served as Chair of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee. Among these achievements are her creative projects in the realms of bioethics and arts in medicine.
Pioneering Structured Ethics Education in Rheumatology
Dr. Kang’s deep interest in the ethical dimensions of patient care led her to pursue a Masters of Bioethics from Columbia University. Over four years of study in the program—including night courses taken outside her demanding clinical and teaching duties—Dr. Kang came to recognize that, while clinicians frequently confront complex ethical issues, they typically rely on intuition or “gut feelings” to make decisions rather than systematically applying bioethical principles. This, she felt, was in part because core principles in bioethics are largely left for doctors to discover on their own and are not explicitly taught through a structured curriculum.
Armed with these insights—and supported by her award from the RRF—Dr. Kang created a series of online bioethics modules covering foundational topics in ethics such as the principles of bioethics, conflict of interest (COI), and the use of placebo in clinical trials. Now routinely used by Columbia rheumatology fellows—and incorporated into the Evidence‑Based Medicine curriculum for medical students at Columbia—these modules have had a substantial impact. Over 700 learners have completed the modules, and these trainees have reported improved knowledge and understanding of these concepts, an increased likelihood of considering COI in future pharmaceutical industry interactions, and an increased likelihood of applying fundamental bioethical principles to assess COI.
The Art of Medicine: Healing Moral Injury through Visual Dialogue
Recognizing that the COVID‑19 pandemic exacerbated moral injury and feelings of disconnection among health professionals, Dr. Kang turned to the arts as a means of restoration and community‑building. Having completed the Harvard Macy Institute Art Museum-based Health Professions Education Fellowship, as well as a certificate in visual thinking strategies, Dr. Kang has since sought to explore how visual arts can support reflective practice in medicine.
At Columbia, Dr. Kang partners with Roberto Ferrari, Curator of Art Properties at the university, to select pieces of art, sculpture, and photographs that prompt open‑ended discussion. In small-group sessions that vary from 60-90 minutes, participants from diverse backgrounds (rheumatology fellows, dermatology residents, nursing and medical students, primary care providers) gather in front of a chosen artwork or image—which often features ambiguous imagery or complex symbolism—and reflect on questions such as “How does this artwork resonate with your work in medicine?” and “How does this image help you find meaning or purpose in your work?” These discussions are then linked back to themes of healthcare access, clinician self‑worth, ethical dilemmas, and the emotional challenges inherent to medicine.
By stepping outside traditional clinical settings, these sessions foster creativity, openness, free expression, and mutual understanding. Such experiences—grounded in the aesthetic and emotional power of art—aim to replenish clinicians’ sense of meaning, reduce feelings of isolation, and ultimately support more humane patient care.
Impact and Future Directions
Dr. Kang’s dual focus on structured ethics education and arts‑based reflection has established her as a national leader in clinician‑educator innovation. Her bioethics modules have been shared through the American College of Rheumatology’s Educators Meeting and made publicly available on the ACR education website, broadening their reach beyond Columbia’s campus. Feedback from external learners underscores their value in prompting proactive ethical deliberation, and we are very honored to have Dr. Kang as a model of these practices among our faculty.