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Perspectives on Medical Education
Published in: Perspectives on Medical Education 5/2021

Open Access 01-10-2021 | A Qualitative Space

Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn: poetic inquiry within health professions education

Authors: Megan E. L. Brown, Martina Kelly, Gabrielle M. Finn

Published in: Perspectives on Medical Education | Issue 5/2021

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Abstract

Qualitative inquiry is increasingly popular in health professions education, and there has been a move to solidify processes of analysis to demystify the practice and increase rigour. Whilst important, being bound too heavily by methodological processes potentially represses the imaginative creativity of qualitative expression and interpretation—traditional cornerstones of the approach. Rigid adherence to analytic steps risks leaving no time or space for moments of ‘wonder’ or emotional responses which facilitate rich engagement. Poetic inquiry, defined as research which uses poetry ‘as, in, [or] for inquiry’, offers ways to encourage creativity and deep engagement with qualitative data within health professions education. Poetic inquiry attends carefully to participant language, can deepen researcher reflexivity, may increase the emotive impact of research, and promotes an efficiency of qualitative expression through the use of ‘razor sharp’ language. This A Qualitative Space paper introduces the approach by outlining how it may be applied to inquiry within health professions education. Approaches to engaging with poetic inquiry are discussed and illustrated using examples from the field’s scholarship. Finally, recommendations for interested researchers on how to engage with poetic inquiry are made, including suggestions as to how to poetize existing qualitative research practices.
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Metadata
Title
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn: poetic inquiry within health professions education
Authors
Megan E. L. Brown
Martina Kelly
Gabrielle M. Finn
Publication date
01-10-2021
Publisher
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum
Published in
Perspectives on Medical Education / Issue 5/2021
Print ISSN: 2212-2761
Electronic ISSN: 2212-277X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-021-00682-9

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