Artes y humanidades en la formación de personal de salud y en la atención integral en un hospital universitario

The objective of this article is present the multiple forms of application of the arts and humanities in hospital contexts and in professional training in the Faculties of Medicine and Nursing and a University Hospital of the city of Bogotá-Colombia in the period 2008 -2018. The characterization was made from qualitative, interpretive methods, with application of semi-structured interviews to actors identified by snowball and self-report. Participant observation was also made in some places and practices. The meanings and uses of the arts and humanities in relation to health and health education were investigated. The various actors assign meanings to these practices, relating them to a greater receptivity in the teaching-learning process, the possibility of generating a sense of transcendence about what is done, answering existential questions, providing well-being to people in hospitalization conditions and in less measure to generate own well-being or that of health professionals. Their place in the explored contexts is still perceived as subaltern, and they are mostly sustained by individual initiatives and volunteerism. Its legitimacy must be insisted upon in order to advance in its social and emancipatory sense.