The Ripple Effect
Conflicts and complexity of care – inspired by a mother’s personal experience
CANCER?
A medical student’s mixed response to his mother’s suspected cancer diagnosis
The Appearance of Disease
A student visualises patients from their medical notes pre-consultation
Anti Mnemonist
Three intersecting graphic perspectives based on living with dementia and the underlying creative process
Rescue
The initial disconnecting and isolating aspect of pain and illness – and relief when a web of support emerges
Alive
‘The miracle of life is not to live – but to be alive’: the doctor’s role in supporting patients to address self-depleting patterns
Sun-Spun
The poet observes a child with autism absorbed in play and feels privileged to be invited to join her world
A New Beginning
Birth and death, joy and grief – bound up in exceptional circumstances
Long Dark Tunnel
Image from the perspective of a elderly patient whose world is rapidly shrinking due to anxiety about her infirmity
Big Black Dogs
Metaphorical musing around depression as something which cannot be shaken off
The Struggle
The tension between the will to thrive and a body cumulatively challenged by ill-health
Abnormal
Concern for a young woman patient living with chronic pain and skin disfigurement – compounded by a detached parent
Pseudo Life
A carer places her considerable health issues at one remove despite her GP’s concerns
Life-Line
A GP provides timely support to a patient with addiction
The Future
An emergency hospitalization where the patient is unaware of gravity of her condition
A Real Person Too
A young addict unexpectedly finds understanding from the medical profession
Daytime Television
A stark domestic insight into the realities of supporting a loved one with acquired disability
Valerie
Narrative inspired by a profoundly disabled patient – insights around being a passive recipient of multiple interventions
Eat Less
The notion that obesity is a self-inflicted is scrutinized after a home visit.
There was a man…
Insights into the role of humour in clinical practice, and its relation to the trust placed in healthcare professionals
Mum
Searingly honest poem about a son’s changing relationship with his mother after she has a severe stroke
Art in Medicine
The role of portraiture within healing.
Finding the Pain
Insights from patient drawings bring the impact of clinical consultations to the fore
A Vision Gained
A multi-sensory re-evaluation of a grandmother’s visual ‘dis’ability
Precious
Fictionalized account of a tender relationship, Sita the life-long companion and carer of her frail husband
The Knot
An analysis of the impact of alcoholism and drug abuse upon the individual, their family and professionals involved
Let Go
A lyrical interpretation of patients’ feelings of being misunderstood and aching to be free
Use Your EQ not just your IQ
Rap based on the need to take an holistic approach during consultation
Desert Rose
An encounter with a young girl in Zimbabwe is pivotal in this poet’s choice of medicine as a career
A Note On Haiku
Imaginative, poetic presentations of medical conditions
Fragmented Identity
A stark portrayal of identity-construction post-stroke
Asthma
A lyrical interpretation of respiratory challenges
The Twilight Years
Poignant narrative about a widow’s first day as a resident in a care home
Things were rubbish until Josie came to love me
The pivotal role of dogs as companions for those living with disability
Crisis-Point
A home-visit to elderly man provides an unexpected chink of connection through spirituality
Mark
A wheel-chair user’s lived experience is ignored by her GP while a man-to-man chat ensues with her companion
Depression
A personal account of depression – family and peer response and stigma around revealing mental health issues
Feeble, Precarious, Existence
A doctor’s perspective whilst dying of heart disease – empty bed and candles
Climate Transformation and Health Deterioration
Global health and socio-emotional impact on already burdened communities.
Wave
Experimentation with vibrant colours, inspired by the ocean
Paint my Canvas
A student chooses to minutely absorb and process a deeply shared patient experience around terminal illness using poetry as method of learning from this privileged gift
An Excerpt From The Diary Of A Patient
Personal account of patient as undisclosed medic hearing her devastating diagnosis unwittingly revealed in clinical shorthand