Beyond Physical Boundaries
Aiman Dilnawaz
This painting is intended to reflect what the doctor can and cannot see both on and beneath the surface of a patient – both as a case, and as a person. We chose this as we felt that what the doctor cannot see is just as crucial as that which they cannot.
William Allison, Jessica Bale, Seve Brown, Liam Carty-Howe, Aiman Dilnawaz, Joshua Craig Drinkwater, Ffion Haf Gilbert, Conor Joseph Hardacre, Thomas George Hibbs, Ethan Jenkins, Musa Umar.
Collaborative Creative Pieces, Year One, painted by Aiman Dilnawaz
Exhibited at the Foundations of Medicine Student Conference, 2017
This painting presents a simple but powerful message. There is more going on with each patient than what is evident in a physical examination. As a doctor you can make a big difference to the patient by showing concern and caring for each patients needs individually. This often provides key information that leads to a diagnosis. In a high pressured and rushed consultation it is easy to miss details. It is crucial to remember to look past the physical and explore ‘beneath the surface’. This has been evident on my GP placement – it takes time but is essential for effective consulting.
This art piece has a profound meaning, sometimes it’s easy as clinicians to start treating the disease and not the person but there may be other varying factors involved in their diagnosis. This art piece conveys the importance of a holistic approach where with care and integrity as a doctor you can start to see what you usually wouldn’t.
This artwork particularly stood out to me, not only due to the detail and appearance of the painting, but the deeper meaning behind the piece. As a medical professional, it may be easy to focus wholeheartedly on the patient’s physical problems, their diagnosis and treatment and forget about the bigger picture and how this may affect the life of the individual. The image shows how the patient is so much more than just their physical structures which is key in providing efficient patient-centred care. I also interpreted the image in reference to the ‘clinical iceberg’ as the picture conveys patient’s ideas and thoughts ‘beyond physical boundaries’ which often go unseen within the healthcare profession.
For me this striking painting shows a consultation from two perspectives. Whilst the doctor sees the anatomical body, the patient sees their life: experiences, family, passions. It seems to be encouraging healthcare professionals to not only look into someone’s physiology but also their narrative. For some patients it is not physical health that causes the most anxiety, but the stress it may cause their family, how it will effect their career progression or hobbies. Addressing and catering for these things is the only way to completely heal someone. Many doctors go into medicine because they are fascinated by the intricacy of the human body, but this stunning painting suggests to me that getting to know a patient’s life story can be even more beautiful.
This artwork really captured my attention due to the bold use of colours and the simplicity it contains. Just simple things like understanding a patients home life can really solidify a doctor-patient relationship and strengthen the trust the patient has in their doctor. As a doctor, by taking an interest in your patients life it can help you uncover deeper issues the patient may have as they feel safe to disclose this information. Although, it may increase the length of each consultation it’s important to ensure your patient feels listened to and not something you have to tick off a list. Mental illnesses are just as important as physical ones and quite often by just taking a little extra time, and giving a bit of attention to a person you can really help them. I feel this piece of artwork has really demonstrated how it’s important to delve deeper and treat each patient as an individual with their own story.
I find this piece very profound, as the piece of art captures the idea that one can only see a tiny glimpse into a patient’s life. We are never able to fully understand all aspects of a patient and I think this artwork displays this beautifully.
I think this artwork emphasises the importance of holistic care of the patient, not only should the doctor treat the patient physically, but should take into account the social and environmental aspects of the patients life. By taking the time to communicate well with the patient and be understanding of all the patient’s fears and uncertainties, the patient will feel more comfortable and the doctor patient relationship is strengthened.
This painting is powerful because if represents two aspects of the patient: the foreground presents the “medical” side of the patient, that is traditionally what is seen by the doctor, whereas the mirror’s reflection offers the side of the patient which is how they would define themselves. This piece caught my attention, because it represents the importance of each patient’s identity, and how this should be considered by doctors in their patient-centred care, not just the medical condition that they present with. By considering this in the patient’s care, the doctor will be treating the individual, and offering the best care possible, as they treat a person, not just a patient.
This picture really stood out to me because it highlighted the importance of seeing the patient as a whole human being rather than just a set of symptoms. Furthermore there is more to a person than what can be measured and the way disease affects someone doesn’t just manifest itself physically. Therefore a doctor needs to be aware of how the patient is as a whole, their lifestyle and mental health, as well as their physical symptoms.
This piece represents well the idea of doctors treating their patients as people and not an illness. Having a strong doctor-patient relationship can help with diagnoses as patients will feel open and comfortable enough to share their worries and will not be afraid to attend consultations. It is particularly important when discussing mental health illnesses because the issue at hand cannot be solved alone by scientific knowledge.
I think that this piece of artwork shows the doctor’s perception of an illness compared to the patient’s own. When a patient presents themselves to a doctor, often the patient initially will only describe their physical symptoms, shown by the anatomical painting of the body. The more traditional ideas of a doctor also focus principally on the treatment of these physical symptoms. However, the second picture vividly shows that the heart of the person is not just what’s anatomically present but also their relationships, worries, hobbies and joys. The blood vessels from the heart branch off to a different ‘section’ of the person. As a clinician, it will be crucial to collect information about other factors that may affect a patient’s well-being, but also consider the impacts that a diagnosis may have on an individual. This could also demonstrate the trust needed within a doctor patient relationship for a patient to open up in order to show the things that are most important to the patient.
This painting has really caught my interest because of how it captures the different perspectives of what a doctor can see and cannot see. The first picture highlights the anatomical structures in the human body and doctors have a duty to treat any disfunction with the body however they should also see the unseeable eg mental health. Rather than just treating the disease, doctors should consider the whole person and encourage holistic approach in the medical field.
I found this painting particularly interesting because of how it draws comparisons between anatomical features of the body, and patient perspectives about health, to show what a doctor might see against what is important for a patient. For example, how the tree-like structures in the lungs and brain are represented by the tree spanning the whole body or the different aspects of their life (finance, family, leisure) mirror the different lobes of the brain. It shows that doctors need to treat patients more holistically, because that is how people actually view themselves.
This artwork first caught my attention due to the use of many colours and good artistic skills. However, when you look at it in more detail you can see the important message that it attempts to convey. The use of the anatomical figure represents the doctors view, whereas the other figure represents life from the patients perspective. Contrasting the doctor’s and patient’s view is important as they both have a different understanding of what illness means and it also shows that doctors cannot treat patients purely based off of physical symptoms. Whilst it would be easier for the doctor to treat based on physical symptoms alone, this piece of art emphasises the importance of doctors treating patients with a holistic approach. It is important that good communication skills are utilised to find out what is important to the patient as mental and social wellbeing make up as big a part of ‘health’ as physical defects. As everyone is unique, different things are important to different people and it is important that the doctor is aware of the patients priorities in order to find the best treatment option for them.
This vivid and beautiful piece of art represents the important concept of the “clinical iceberg” when in a clinical setting. The two figures creates a visual of the different levels of understanding and the effect of the “illness” or “disease” being discussed on both an clinical and lay definitions. The figures highlight that to provide the best care, it is crucial to keep in mind the bigger picture and other factors when diagnosing. I think everybody in medical school is doing their best to provide the best for their patients, but when guidelines and other barriers are presented, a conscious effort should be made to keep this clinical iceberg in mind.
This art piece really stood out to me firstly due to its use of many colours and incredible art work. However since looking at it in greater detail you can see that there is much more to it than just a piece of art. The two perspectives show both the doctors view and the patients perspective. This shows how different the two perspectives can be as sometimes doctors look at illness just based on physical symptoms etc, however this art piece shows us the importance of doctors treating patients in a holistic approach and consider the whole person rather than just medically what is going on.