Giving and Receiving
Victoria Ingrams and Elizabeth Cheng
For our artwork, we chose to appreciate the donors who have entrusted us with their bodies to further our studies and on a wider scale, all others within our sphere of aid when we begin to practice. These donors are pioneers of a system that is kind, supportive, and sharing; through their lives, they enable others to flourish.
We chose to create a sculpture of a handshake to celebrate the partnership between donors and medical students, portraying two equal and anonymous hands. The title of the piece, Giving/Receiving, probes viewers to consider their notion of a patient-doctor relationship, and in turn, the bridge between life and death. We also hope that such a physical presence invites viewers to imagine themselves in either or even both roles- as one patient becomes a donor, or a doctor becomes a patient. Just as lives depend on our work, our work depends on the lives and kindness of each and every donor.
Year One
Exhibited at the Foundations of Medicine Student Conference 2019
Exhibited at the Foundations of Medicine Student Conference 2019
I think this is a beautifully simple and powerful piece of art as it flips the relationship between doctor as enhancer of life and patient as receiver to that of patient as provider (of knowledge and experience), and doctor as recipient of this gift. It can be taken as a reflection on the precariousness and precious nature of life and ways of healing, which so depend on sacrifice and sharing. The attributes of bravery, selflessness and caring for others, often associated with medical professionals, are yet more touching in this piece as attributed to patients themselves donating their own bodies to contribute to the medical profession and, in turn, helping save others’ lives. Hopefully this piece will encourage medical students to reflect on both the privilege of their position and the interdependent nature of the service they provide.
I found this sculpture to be portray the emotion and gratitude behind body donation incredibly well. The way that the hands are positioned seems to be representative of thankfulness, as if the doctor is thanking the donor for their kindness and trust, and appreciating the fact that they have learned so much from the donor, even after they passed away. Without the donor they would not be the doctor that they are today. The sculpture seems to be representative of the cyclic nature of life, and how the doctor could just as easily become the donor later on in life. The title of “Giving/Receiving” is also clever, as it shows how the doctor may give to the patient whilst they are alive, but the patient gives their body for donation, therefore giving something incredibly powerful – knowledge – even when they have passed away. The positioning of the hands reminds me somewhat of “The Creation of Adam”, which ties back in to the giving/receiving theme – the patient is giving the doctors the ability to understand the human body, something that could not have been possible without their selfless donation. The emotions around body donation are strong, and this piece encapsulates them very well.
I think this is a great piece that is showing the relationship between doctor and donor. I view the hands themselves as if they are showing what each side can offer the other in this partnership – the doctor has the surgical glove which I see as representing hygeine and the promise of health, whereas the donor’s hand is stripped to show its internal structure which represents the organs and body parts the donor is giving. A handshake requires two people in an equal postion and so it shows the thanks both the donor is giving the doctor but more importantly the doctor is giving the donor. They are relying on each other and both are contributing to the realtionship, and as shown in the piece, the handshake. The title also highlights this as again both are giving and recieving – it isn’t a set role. Overall I think it’s a not too complex yet extremely powerful piece.
This piece particularly stuck with me as I have found my interactions with the donated bodies in anatomy class to be quite a heavy experience. I like how this piece focuses on the gratitude we as medical students should have towards the donors. I am glad this piece was created, as when viewed by us as medical students it forces to reflect on how the donors have trusted us with their bodies after they have passed. We have a duty to not only respect the specimens, but also to not waste the use this incredible resource and use it to help us learn as future doctors. By the action of the donors hand shaking ours, it triggers us to think of these donors as people, and not just inanimate specimens that we see. These people had lives and families and I think it is important to remember that in order to show them the greatest respect we can.
This sculpture is powerful and realistic. The handshake pose in this piece conveys the gratitude that many medical students, including myself, feel towards those who choose to donate their body. It shows the interdependent relationship present between the two, much like many relationships in a healthcare setting. The theme of giving and receiving is interesting because doctors are usually seen as ‘giving’ and patients are ‘receiving’. However, when it comes to medical school, the patients we talk to and the donors in our anatomy class are giving us invaluable information and experience. Anatomy sessions can sometimes be daunting, but thinking about the generosity of the donor helps me to understand how lucky we are and appreciate the donor as a person.
I believe this art could be interpreted in two ways. I think one is showing the gratitude that medical students should feel towards those who donate their bodies in the efforts of helping us learn. I also think it could be interpreted as showing the duality of science and humanity in medicine with the hands reaching out an touching but with one gloved and one with the skin removed.
This sculptures highlights the difference between giving and receiving, as well as the relationship between doctors and their patients.
How in order for the relationship to work they need to cooperate together and therefore build a rapport through trust.
The deeper qualities of the connection and how both are necessary for it to work are the main subject of the piece.
However, it also demonstrates the mutual respect and gratitude they each have.
It could also show how each hand relies on the other and they have a duty to work together to achieve the best outcome
As soon as I saw this artwork I felt almost connected. This sculpture highlights the interconnectedness between doctor and patient. As a medical student, our education is enhanced by the use of donors as this artwork shows how we future doctors can appreciate what these donors have provided for us in terms of education. As the size of the hand of both the doctor and the patient/donor are the same, this paints the picture that we doctors can go on to become patients or donors and how, as a doctor, we have many different roles we fit into on a daily basis: mother, sister, daughter, friend and ultimately doctor. I really like how this artwork blurs the line between doctors becoming patients as it happens all the time. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of the hands shows how important the doctor-patient relationship is and building that strong rapport is essential in providing good healthcare.
I like this sculpture because it epitomises a very important part of medicine. It portrays the link between the humanity and science aspect of medicine, portraying the important part humanity and donors plays in the training of future doctors scientifically. The sculpture portrays two hands shaking, that of a donor and a medical student, expressing the gratitude students have for donors who donate their bodies for their training. I also like the fact that the sculpture shifts the dynamic of healthcare proffesionals and patients where typically doctors are providing for patients however in this its showing the opposite. It shows the important part patients play in giving valuable information to students helping them significantly.
This sculpture truly conveys the gratitude medical professionals feel toward body donors. For me the handshake implies both appreciation and a profound “deal” made with the donors. The deal being a commitment as a medical professionals to learn from each donor’s gift with integrity, respect, and also dedication to community service, to make sure I will learn as much as possible from their donation. This artwork reminds me of the humanity aspect of medicine, these cadavers were people with families and loved ones, not just learning tools. Which reinforces the need to treat each donation with the dignity it deserves, deepening our appreciation for the lives behind each generous gift.
Whether consciously or unconsciously referencing Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, this piece provides a counterpoint which is refreshingly simple and poignant as the hands are definitely in contact, showing the connection formed between the donor and anatomist. Simultaneously, the piece explores, with depth the dynamic formed between the donor, who being stripped bare and dissected to show their anatomy is truly open, and at the whim of the gloved (and hence anonymised) anatomist. This truly shows the trust that donors place in us as medical students and in the medical profession as a whole. Whilst they will never know who examines them, we know them intimately. The piece, I feel, truly recognises and honors the privilege and responsibility we have whilst celebrating the donations, and the people behind them, that make our learning posible.
I was immediately drawn to this piece, the choice of colour and media is quite powerful in representing the relationship between donors and medical students. I interpreted the donor’s hand as being gold to show how medical students will often look at anatomy labs and dissection as this shiny, new area of study that they have never done before. The gloved handed to represent the medical students as masked and unidentified. I think this is very important to reflect on as medical students as there is a huge amount of trust donors place in us without even knowing who we are. I liked that the hands showed partnership, it also made me think about what was the donors relationship with medicine and healthcare prior. We are incredibly privileged to be able to learn from donors and as medical students we owe it to them to try to absorb every opportunity that they have given us.
I found this piece a particularly powerful reflection considering both the fundamental relationship between the doctor and the patient, specifically focussing on the trust shared. I like the concept of using a handshake to show this mutual connection and feel like this could be considered a reminder of the professional values a doctor upholds comparing a consultation to something serious in a business field for example. I also found the piece particularly powerful as a medical student through showing the anatomy of the patient’s hand. In one aspect, this reminded me and continues to inspire my thinking of seeing medicine as a vocation: a lifelong commitment to learning a system so complex to deliver the reassurance and treatment my patients deserve. Additionally, it highlights the privilege that comes with being a doctor such as the trust in using donors to better our knowledge of anatomy. This is a particular privilege I am very grateful for and continue to utilise to push my medical understanding to the best it possibly can be.
Initially, the title “Giving and Receiving”, coupled with the contrasting crumpled blue nitrile glove of the doctor touching the gold hand of the patient propagated to me the idea of a selfless doctor. The doctor in this case is dirtying their hands in order to give gold to their patient, protarying a wholly one side give-take relationship, that made me question “what is there to gain in being a doctor?” However, after looking at the visual a second time, and digesting the description attached. I realised, the narrow mindedness of my intrepetation, the gold hand does take gold but it also gives gold. It may be easy as a doctor to have the view that you are only giving, but the visual reinforced the idea that soceity and patients give to doctors too. They give their body for the sake of our education – showed by the discrete arterial supply on the patient’s hands, their gift is part of the resources that allow us to train in medical schools. This visual is therefore, especially impactful to me as it reminded me that although as a doctor you do good to people, you have also been extremely fortunate and have been helped by patients (donors) and larger communities of family and friends who give to you in order for you to become a doctor in the first place, and that the precious gift of donor bodies which are made of ‘gold’ therefore needs to be treasured and treated with dignity.
This piece stood out to me in particular, because it demonstrates the connection and equal partnership of medical students and donors, both contributing towards the growth of the medical profession. I find the handshake idea fascinating, because it conveys the idea of a contractual agreement between student and donor, in which a body is gifted for the education of the student, in exchange for respect and appreciation. It may also invite the feeling that, as the hands are of equal size and shape, the anatomist is not dissimilar to the donor and may imagine themselves in the shoes of the donor down the line. The gold tint of the donor’s hand, though demonstrating the yellowing of the hand by preservation, also conveys that donor’s bodies are to be treasured as gifts to medicine.