The Pandemic has taken its toll on everyone’s life and is undeniably a difficult time for many people. The past year has been unusual for everyone considering the frequent lockdowns and limited human interaction. The online primary care consultations I have encountered seemed very different to what they would look like in a pandemic free world. During the consultations, we always asked patients or carers about their mental health, and enquired about the support they had whether it was from friends, family or even from the NHS. I strongly believed that patients required a good support system for their long-term recovery, as well as hope and faith in achieving a better life. I think this is even more crucial during these difficult times, especially since patients might have a limited social life, be worried about their health, and might feel lonely, which could negatively affect their health. I decided to focus on the aspect of support since I could relate as a first-year medical student. While beginning university, and particularly medicine, might be an overwhelming time for many, studying remotely made it feel even more demanding. Being isolated from other students deludes you into thinking you are alone in this journey, and it steals the experience of sharing your difficulties with your classmates. I was fortunate to have a good support system, whether it was from family or friends, which helped me vastly during this year. 

For my creative piece I decided to paint flowers, which are a source of great admiration and fondness for me. Personally, I view flowers as representatives of life that emit positivity and happiness. During my research into the different types of flowers and their meanings, I aptly selected two that shone more brightly than the countless others; the blue iris flower and the alstroemeria flower. The former symbolises hope and faith, which are traits I value in the recovery journey of patients. The latter symbolises friendship, strength, and mutual support, which are determining factors in the wellbeing of individuals’ mental health. I specifically chose to use colour in my piece because I thought it was a good interpretation of the many positives that were derived out of the tainted, bleak canvas that is the pandemic. My use of random colours in the background represents how everyone’s life and story might be different, but at the end of the day we are all humans and share mutual needs. 

I decided to create a painting because this particular type of art allows me to relieve stress, so I naturally took this as an opportunity to relieve the anxiety that had been building up at the time. While I am aware that the flowers I painted reference almost nothing clinical – which I purposefully excluded to reflect on the fact that we’ve had minimal face-to-face encounters with patients during this eventful year- I think that the meaning behind my painting touches all patients’, students’ and doctors’ wellbeing and mental health. 

While creating this piece, I have come to realise how similar people can be whether you were a patient, student, doctor or even a child; we all go through similar phases during our lives and require adequate support, hope, and faith to aid in our journey through this phase. This creative piece allowed me to reflect on many blessings, especially the support my family and friends gift me. While my gratitude for this is unmatched, I saw this as an opportunity to identify the misfortunes of those who lack a suitable support system, and hopefully devote time and effort into providing them with well-needed support.     

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