After a busy week with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine classes, Brooke Quinton and Yiran Wang found that painting and drawing together were good ways to relax on the weekends.

Medical schools across the country including Harvard, Yale and Northwestern universities are mixing in literature, art, drama—even dance—to the hardcore science courses they offer students.

Talita Long, 65, stands on a rectangle pedestal under a spotlight, holding a playground ball on her head while 24 pairs of eyes study, examine and draw the anatomy of her naked body. This is the Life ...