I chose to use clay and casting as the medium for this creative piece as it was the only material I felt capable of exploring whether we truly hear the perspectives of people entrusting their lives in the hands of doctors in their communities.

My aim is to convey a life sized, physical model of a clinician’s hand and a patient’s hand holding the individual’s heart in a collaborative manner. The materials hold the form of the hands and heart in the intended copacetic positions.

In the process I first crafted the heart by creating a wire skeleton, then filled it with newspaper and sculped over with creative clay. Once the heart was set, I use alginate to create a mould and casting powder to shape the hands in the position while holding the heart. This process took several days to set, cast and refine into the final piece.

This piece was inspired by an encounter with a gentleman in secondary care, when I took the full history of the patient’s experience I came to understand his insights. I learnt that even the most well-intended efforts to help people with a medical condition can go unintentionally unrecognised as we can fail to listen and communicate with patients.

The gentleman was calm and trusting, yet frustration or concern ran in the undertone. I felt at that moment that we as current and future doctors hold people’s lives and experiences in our hands, but that it is essential to remember that we do not hold it alone but rather together, intertwined between the layers of medical expertise and the lived experience of the patient. I have learnt the importance of listening and communicating with the people who entrust their lives to clinicians and to not assume they know we are holding their best ideas, concerns and expectations safely in our capable hands and theirs.