Courses
OOOH!! is woven into the fabric of medical education at Bristol. For many years medical undergraduates had a mandatory assignment known by students as “compulsory creativity”. Students were required to create a work of art, in any conceivable medium, that reflected on medical themes. Some did the least they could to pass but a surprising number surprised themselves and us with works of poignancy and calibre.
We have reflected on our experience with OOOH!! in two journal articles:
Artworks
We haven’t got complete records for all artworks, in particular the year of submission for the earliest contributions. The most common course to contribute was “Whole Person Care” which ran from 2002 to 2017. Students subsequently submitted creative pieces in response to their “GP Attachments”. More recent courses include “Foundations of Medicine” and “Y2 Effective Consulting”.
The intercalated B.A. in Medical Humanities, student electives focusing on Poetry, Creative Arts for Health and Anatomical Drawing, plus the Disability Disadvantage and Diversity theme also embed creative practices.
OOOH!! Search & Filter
Use the OOOH!! filter system below to locate all the works dealing with a particular course. The dropdown list “Courses” will reveal all. You can then narrow your search by choosing additional dropdown categories such as Art Forms and Specialties.
Courses
We have reflected on our experience with OOOH!! in two journal articles:
‘Compulsory creativity’: rationales, recipes, and results in the placement of mandatory creative endeavour in a medical undergraduate curriculum
Out of Our Heads! Four perspectives on the curation of an on-line exhibition of medically themed artwork by UK medical undergraduates.
We haven’t got complete records for all artworks, in particular the year of submission for the earliest contributions. The most common course to contribute was “Whole Person Care” which ran from 2002 to 2017. Students subsequently submitted creative pieces in response to their “GP Attachments”. More recent courses include “Foundations of Medicine” and “Y2 Effective Consulting”.
The intercalated B.A. in Medical Humanities, student electives focusing on Poetry, Creative Arts for Health and Anatomical Drawing, plus the Disability Disadvantage and Diversity theme also embed creative practices.
OOOH!! Search & Filter
Use the OOOH!! filter system below to locate all the works in OOOH!! which use a particular medium. The dropdown list “Perspectives” will reveal all. You can then narrow your search by choosing additional dropdown categories such as Art Forms and Diagnoses.
Lost Identity
The cumulative impact being the prime-carer for others
Hand in Hand
A celebration of both individual difference and universal connection – front cover of an exploratory illustrated booklet
Leaking Identity
How much of the clinician’s personality is it appropriate to reveal in professional practices? – coming to terms with integrating ‘new’ roles
Primum non nocere: first do no harm
Tension between the will to ‘cure’ and treatment impairing the patient’s health
The chair-shaped space
Triangulating perspectives in GP consultations
Surface Anatomy
Students proposed the development of an app allowing patients to visually connect with inner body structures and together with the clinician, observing specific areas in detail
They Are the Brave
A deeply reflective analysis of patients’ vulnerability and hope within clinical care. Hard-won personal insight has integrated this tension in a simple, poignant and artful poem
Lost to Dementia
The role of memory within dementia
Flowers
Exploring the intertwined role of clinical care and family support through flora
The Barrier of Medical Jargon
A plea for less clinical terminology used in consultations to build a more participatory relationship between clinicians and patients
To Act in the Best Interests of the Patient
The stressful impact of medical consultations on doctors.
The corridors of death
Clinical encounters during a child’s journey with a life-limiting disability raises questions around the dissonance of the hospital environment
Give me a Hand
Diverse quotes around the current healthcare profession in the public domain
Donation
Complexity and apathy around organ and whole-body donation
The Wait
The role of patient’s decisions around life-choices within palliative care
The art of adding beauty to the brain
A GP’s approach to living with dementia as an opportunity for growth in herself offers unorthodox, positive, alternatives
Reflections on the Human Form
Drawing on historical and current perspectives to exploring the richness of human form
Sewing yourself back together
Free-hand embroidery based on exploration of alternative therapies to support post-natal depression.
Living with Genetic Diseases
Living with genetic conditions: identity and self-worth through the metaphor of a child’s experience of society and lack of agency
Beyond Physical Boundaries
The significance of giving space to the unknown in consultations
Under the Iceberg
Individual barriers to seeking clinical help
So you say I can’t do GCSE PE? Well now I’m a Paralympian.
A home visit brings insight into the role of family and societal attitudes around visual impairment
Sweat, Blood and Tears
A student’s personal experience of living with diabetes
Bubble
A hospital visit to a friend profoundly altered bodily and mentally whilst being treated for an eating disorder
The D.R.
The poet processes her first time in the Dissection Room
Breaking News
Concern around physical and mental exhaustion impairing future sensitive communications with patients and relatives
Autism, art and animals
The positive impact of animal companions and the arts for children with autism
My Pain
A young woman’s incapacitating and unvoiced pain – reflection on the need for trust between doctor and patient to achieve vital diagnosis and support
My Mistake
Hypothetical exploration of a young patient dying due to the poet’s oversight
Who says graffiti isn’t art
Musings on a commonly held misconception
Resilience in the siblings of disabled children
An insider perspective around disability within the family unit contextualized through current research
Im Abendrot (Eichendorff)
Thoughts around embracing death and learning from the wisdom of age
Crumpled Sheets
A multi-sensory embodiment of depression
Fire and Snow
The early trauma of visiting the poet’s mother’s in hospital re-visited
Doubt
A young doctor on a ward feeling inadequate and overwhelmed despite his committment to the medical profession
Dear Diary
Prose in diary form – composite fictional account. based on observations of patients in an oncology clinic
Metamorphosis
Striving towards holism within medical education
Happy Birthday Helen
Considering the shortened life of the author’s elder sister
Attention: This Building is Unsafe and Likely to Collapse
A daughter shares how her mother handled terminal lung disease both through writing poetry and publishing practical ideas to support family and friends through a cancer diagnosis
Songs of Courage
Healing through music therapy inspires a student’s poem
The Meeting
How an isolated, shared experience, albeit brief – can forge a unique bond and impact on your life
A Little Boy, A Little Time
The heart-wrenching impact of encountering young children with life limiting AIDS/HIV upon the author