From Behind, Neurodegeneration Revealed
A Shrinking Maitrix
A Stitch of Support
Tangible comfort through acute disruption
Fancy a cuppa?
A ‘brew’…the national liquid balm
Love’s Distance
Precarious premature births – an unbearable parental limbo
Contrast
Individual difference within health expectations and recovery
The Weight of Shared Memories
Caring for a loved-one with dementia
More Than Words
A fresh eye in the wards
Close Observation
Material and emotional care unwound
Hands of Life
Kaylee Macdonald
Visceral Connections
No Space Left On My Plate
The last ingredient in the mix…
Beyond Skin Colour
Embedded racism within healthcare
Skin Conditions: diagnostic inequalities
Addressing a visual references defecit
Explosion
Migraine made visible
Patient Advocacy
Judging the time to step in
When Morning Meets it’s End
A profound lesson in life and death
White Walls, Dark Truths
Who is truly seen, believed, protected?
Out of Touch
Fractured communities trigger a collective hug mosaic
Beneath the Surface
Peeling back layers of negative rumination in creative collaboration
LGBQT+ Inclusivity in biomedical research
Creative perspectives in Life Sciences
Porcelain Blues
Complexities of embodied trauma
Looking Beyond Normal
Historic gender bias in medicine
Eating disorder labels re-considered
Intersectionality and gendered assumptions challenged.
It’ll get better on its own…
The invisibility of mental health with a focus on socialised masculinity.
Cut from the Same Cloth
Textiles provide a window to a multitude of shared biological patterns.
Endlessness
The cycle of complexities and contrasts within NHS patient-care.
Inside the Walls of a Vaccination Centre
challenges to public health unpicked
Losing Sight
A tangible lesson following a patient’s story deflected
Losing Sight
A tangible lesson following a patient’s story deflected.
Mother and Child
The family toll of children’s long-term stays in hospital.
My Hands are Tied
Struggles and Life-lines in a healthcare crisis
Blinking Bleeps…
Hospital soundscapes: missed opportunities?
Bleach
Identity in hospital end-of-life care
There is a story behind every doctor
Do patients make the best doctors?
Deep Waters
Looking beyond the surface reveals a profound fear of illness and mortality
The Aching Soul
Chronic emotional trauma makes its mark
Just Rest
The role of rest within healthcare
Learning from hands-on anatomy
Gratitude to donors for their invaluable role within medical education
A coat of NHS ethnicities
Celebrating NHS diversity inspires a richly symbolic garment
Who am I, behind the bars?
Holistic care within a fragmented prison system?
Divided land, hand in hand
An indigenous community provides vital health insights to the industrialised world
Permanence
Women surgeons’ experiences of abuse by male colleagues
Under Pressure
Medical decision-making when personal health risks are high.
Sensory Connections
Creating multi-sensory environments to help newborns thrive
Stitched-Up
Exploring reasons why patients withhold
Peony Petals
The light and shade of living with a skin condition
Behind the Wheel
A patient guides holistic practice
Flowering Sorrow
A creative interpretation of living with loss
The Grip of Alcoholism
Turning the tide of addiction
Clinical Curiosity and Compassion
The balance of maintaining a patient-focus within clinical learnings
A Sacred Space
Trust in surgical teams under the spotlight as issues around patient vulnerability and faith are explored
Anatomical Connections
The exquisite entanglement of holism
Forget-Me-Not
Honouring each child’s life-cycle – however brief
I Have No Regrets
Unconventional occupational choices within perceived disability
Green Space, Deep Breath
A patient’s belief in Nature’s healing makes a powerful impact
Disparities: in the dark (1)
Clinical Trial imbalances block healthcare for all
Disparities: in the dark (2)
Systemic discrimination of minority communities in Healthcare addressed
Imagine my Pain
The uniqueness of pain and communication challenges
Pressure
Clinicians’ need for self-compassion unpicked
Deep Cleanse
A clinical conversation with positive impact
I Fixed his Clock
Pointillism used to consider eating disorders in the elderly
Sell-by Date
Exploring negative body-identity through textiles
On my level
Taking the lead from patients’ embodiment
‘The NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion’
A reality-check on the complexities of maintaining the NHS
Experiencing Facial Blindness
Creative explorations of facial processing
Our First Year Heard (OFYH)
Creative responses to the impact of the pandemic on medical education.
To See Oursels
Insights into the pleasures and predicaments of contemporary clinical practice through artistic works of medical students and patients.
Waiting
Issues around supporting our elderly community highlighted by the Pandemic
Broken Heart Syndrome Unravelled
The script of a patient’s heart
Inside the Obesity Crisis
Re-framing weight-management
A Call for Compassion
A gentle call to arms
A ‘VIP’ view
The delicate balance of holism in healthcare
A dancer re-frames ‘disability’
Dancing ‘with’ difference
Acupuncture and chronic pain relief
Alternative medicines and debilitating invisible illness
The dynamic of familial care
An illuminating model of caring for loved ones
The Passing of Time
The fragility of identity in later years
Patterns of Anxiety
Mental health issues across lockdowns
10 Minutes
Time-pressured consultations
Broken Bristol
Reverberations of a distorted introduction to your University location
‘The Current Situation’
The professional and personal impact of remote consultations on both healthcare staff and patients
Boxed-in
The complexities of embedding medical learnings from within a remote capsule
Snatched Expectations
Making meaning of remote education over turbulent times
Teddy Steps Up
Home-based improvisation in medical education immortalised
Our Shared Humanity
Universal, positive, responses surface within the bleak context of the Pandemic
Confusion
In-depth observation of patients in hospital during the Pandemic offers deep learning
Volunteering at a Vaccine Clinic
The role of medical humanities in cross-communities healthcare
The experience of being a first-year during co-vid
Questions around self-identity, community and educational expectations triggered by the Pandemic
Tension
Challenges to learning and wellbeing in the pandemic gives rise to an unexpected creative resource
A surprisingly memorable online consultation
A patient’s spontaneous response makes a student’s day
From a Distance
The tight-rope of students’ maintaining wellbeing and mental health across the Pandemic
Chamomile: patience in adversity
A vaccination clinic nurtures hope and light
Abdominal Portaiture
Intestinal sculptures reveal unique medical narratives
My Body – My Decision?
Women’s rights and life-changing medical interventions
Accessibility Issues: turning the tables
Barriers to basic, everyday-life
Pillow Talk
Improvisation in remote medical education
Mental Health in Medical Students
Renewed respect for the capacity of the brain under pressure
One step at a time
Managing the steep hill of study in lockdown
Loving a missing lover
The emotional toll of grieving whilst caring for a life-partner
Imposter Syndrome
Underlying student anxieties starkly surfaced by the Pandemic
What’s in front of you
Visceral encounters in the DR
Homelessness – an inside view
Healthcare perspectives around Homelessness
Chalk and Cheese
Individual difference in processing immediate experience
Tackling Menstruation Stigma
‘Natural’ bodily functions and Taboos
Conscious
A rare medical incident highlights the role of care within surgical intervention
The Beginning
A unique documentation of the Pandemic trajectory and legacy
Desk Day
Medical Education in lockdown
Virtual Fog
Reflections around the impact of Covid-19 on medical education reveals a surprising outcome.
Disconnected
The complexities of remote consultations
The Cap
A light-hearted spin on the unwelcome return to chemotherapy.
Beneath the Dura Mater
The balancing act of self-care and caring for others viewed from both physiological and psychological perspectives.
Waiting
Holding your nerve in Oncology waiting-rooms.
Identity: Crisis
Student creative pieces from the 2020 Intercalated B.A. in Medical Humanities
Beyond the patient – Little Girl’s Lullaby
Hearing and being cherished, both life-lines for a spirited young girl with multiple medical challenges, inspired a remarkable composition
The Fabric of Being Human
Learning alongside recovering amputees causes the artist to question the fundamentals of traditional embodiment
The Shadowed Carer
The huge contribution of home-carers to society and their well-being is highlighted during a GP consultation
Understanding the True Burden
Strong bonds of family love sustaining a mother living with a chronic and acute ill-health are explored through voice, music and movement
Reflecting on Grief
Recent family bereavement leads this artist to deeply process her hard-won philosophy around life and death – and that of patients
Giving and Receiving
Donorship – a circle of trust within medical education
The Role of Technology in Healthcare
When faced with the choice between traditional healthcare professionals and new artificial intelligence – who would you trust to be in charge of your care?
A Clockwork Lemon
A Clockwork LemonAnonymousComments Dr Larry Day 06 February 2011 - 12:02:08 "I was suitably disturbed by this. Hippocrates said we doctors should love each other and treat each other with unconditional compassion. When do I do this? Well, if the...
Landscape
Nina Beck
Red and White Domes
Kate Noble
Hospital: A Living Architecture
Appreciation of hospital care by a close relative causes a student to consider this holistic clinical community
To be true to one another in the good times and in bad…
Hearts connect to maintain the pulse of recovery
The complex mind
A myriad of challenges to individualised, holistic care surface once mental stability is compromised
Curiosity
A student’s insight into the sensitive dialogue within consultation places due weight on the gifts of genuine authentic connection in healthcare
Awesome
The artist returns to the charge of birth and re-positions herself as creatively contributing to the shape of her future
Collaborative Heart Patchwork
Thoughts around arts for health in GP surgeries from Suuad – a patient-artist and poet
A message to our future doctors
A place for clinicians showing their emotions to patients
A message to our future doctors
Compassion for medical students
A message to our future doctors
A smile can be enough
Chispa
‘Returning to life’ more fully through the engagement in the arts
Mum
A patient artist’s New Year goal to be ‘a champion mum’
HEAVY WORDS: Stories From The Cervix
A Bristol art exhibition raises awareness of women’s health issues and triggers cross-community dialogue
The Man in the Corner
Anonymous – A poignant consultation lays bare the diminishing identity, deteriorating health and loss of connection with a patient’s soulmate of forty years
Reassurance
The vital and grounding power of a doctor’s touch at pivotal moments
The Patient
A surreal interpretation of the objectification of the patient once medical humanity is eclipsed
Spots of Patients
Colour-inversion represents patients’ diversity of embodiment and approach to well-being despite identical medical conditions-and clinicians’ variable responses in turn
Hidden Problems
The artist bringing a medical eye to everyday environments
Holding Hands
An exploration of the pivotal role of touch in thriving – both in life’s journey in general and in relation to the medical humanities
The Sun-Bather
The risks of malignant melanoma in exposure to the sun and an exploration of societal pressures regarding ‘tanning’
The Bold Explorer
Hayley Penhale – Patient determined to forge a positive relationship with his health following a cancer diagnosis
A Silent Society
Living with a stutter- an exploration of historical and cultural perspectives
Organ Manufacture
Questions around the ethics of new technologies and a culture of throw-away organs
When Breath Becomes Air
A doctor’s transition to becoming a patient
The Spider
A multi-faceted interpretation of living with mental illness inspired by a GP consultation
A Bitter Pill
Young male suicide statistics triggered this joint exploration into the need for adequate support-systems to be in place – before crisis-points are reached
Love is Blinding: saving newborns’ sight
Global attitudes to sexual health under the microscope
Sleep
Does the doctor take their patients’ challenges home or close this door at the surgery?
Human to Human
The in-the-moment challenges of juggling clinical and individual readings of a patient whilst developing clinical insights and consultation skills
Can They Feel The Change?
A haiku about anxiety in the current coronavirus pandemic
The Hand
Disembodiment following a stroke and the patient’s physical and emotional journey to recovery sensitively recorded and interpreted
Lost Identity
The cumulative impact being the prime-carer for others
Stress in Medical Practice by Jack Day
For a variety of reasons, stress in medical practice has always been a major topic of discussion¹. Before looking into the causes and management of stress in medical professionals and students, one must first understand what stress is and the implications that it may have on an individual and others.
Holding My Hand
The value of simply offering a hand within healthcare
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
A portrait in time
A fifth-year medical student reflects on individuality and universality in this self-portrait.
An Appointment in Samarra
End of life care from literary and cultural perspectives
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
This Family and Other Drugs
An other-worldly moment when communication challenges post-stroke dissolve in an integrated, multi-sensory experience
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
Bad News
A broad view of the hidden, visceral impact of diagnosis on the patient, family and extended community-potentially mis-interpreted as dis-engaged during the emotional process of adjustment
Lost to Dementia
The role of memory within dementia
Flowers
Exploring the intertwined role of clinical care and family support through flora
The Art of the Patient-Narrative
The challenges of describing physical symptoms verbally
The Barrier of Medical Jargon
A plea for less clinical terminology used in consultations to build a more participatory relationship between clinicians and patients
Heart in Your Hands
The privilege of receiving the patient’s heart and soul
Infertility
A GP consultation inspired exploration into the cultural stigma and emotional impact of infertility
To Act in the Best Interests of the Patient
The stressful impact of medical consultations on doctors.
Can curing do more harm than good? – The danger in creating ‘normality’.
Thoughts on the definition of gender – normality as a spectrum
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
Life Sentences
A mother gives birth and returns to jail without her baby – what is gained from this arrangement?
The Arms of Isolation
Loneliness and anxiety around media coverage of NHS
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
Loose Threads
This artwork represents the imagined life of a street worker – a composite character inspired by the work of the Bristol charity One25
The Reach
Questions around how certain cancers dominate the attention of the media, health services and government spending.
An Inward Scream
Post-surgery return to work whilst recovering from cancer.
Life Saver
Appreciation of a GP’s attention – leading to an early cancer diagnosis
Flying with the Ravens
The all-clear four years after a cancer diagnosis brings heady new horizons
Reach Out
Personal insight into medical student stress and the role of counselling
‘But Gampo, your carpet’s dirty’
The author as a child’s attempts to process being alongside a dying relative and reflections around how is grief is experienced across time
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
Up Close and Personal
Balancing anatomy and living presence through portraiture
Perspectives on the Human Condition
Student creative pieces from the 2017 Intercalated B.A. in Medical Humanities
In One Hand a Paintbrush, the Other a Pen
Embodied kinaesthetic learning whilst absorbing verbal knowledge and an exploration of creative engagement and well-being
Ecosystem
The hospital as an intricate, delicately balanced community
Enslaved Mind
Moving beyond our habitual patterns of thought to enhance living creatively – how frozen thought plays a role in mental health
Think Like a Tree
Exploring how looking after ourselves and others holistically might help to reduce the reliance and pressures on our healthcare system
Balancing Boats and Bodies
Seeking what provides each unique individual with the resilience to thrive
Sewing yourself back together
Free-hand embroidery based on exploration of alternative therapies to support post-natal depression.
JK’s Story
A patient’s story following a traumatic family incident through addiction and isolation to a hard-won re-connection to society and regaining well-being
Acknowledging emotional reactions in newly diagnosed patients
The complexity of processing diagnoses
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
The Individuality of Illness
Three patients’ diverse approaches to challenging medical conditions are sensitively explored and interpreted through imagery and deeply considered prose
Beyond Physical Boundaries
The significance of giving space to the unknown in consultations
Under the Iceberg
Individual barriers to seeking clinical help
The Art of Medicine- ‘The Doctor as an Artist’
A nuanced insight into the dynamic complexities and creativity of clinical consultations within authentic holistic care
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
Between the Cracks
A doctor’s primary duty is patient care; however, what about their own well-being?
Snakes in the heart
Artist coming to terms with diabetes and starting to trust her body again after sense of betrayal
Teflon Man
A patient reflects on his doctor’s delivery of a cancer diagnosis
Ripping, tearing, trapping, snaring
A patient’s visceral experience of surgery and cancer treatment.
Little Things (I missed you)
An inside perspective on the role of the arts whilst living with a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment leads to an international creative initiative
Sweat, Blood and Tears
A student’s personal experience of living with diabetes
Canadian Geese
A mother and daughter share their appreciation of natural forms and systems and walking as a nurturing connection
Life’s Last Chapter
A grand-daughter’s insight into the nurturing role of the natural environment both at first and second-hand at the end of life
The Jigsaw of Recovery: caring for anxiety
The fragile nature of supporting anxiety from the perspective of a daughter and carer : clinical and personal perspectives
Inflamed and Untamed
A sister describes the physiological and psychological of impact brother’s journey from the onset of Ulcerative Colitis and the impact on close family
From steroids to self healing – a patient’s journey
A daughter’s insight into her mother’s healing process and an exploration into the concept of self-healing and holism
The Art of Medicine
The role of perception, presence, personalised approach and pattern recognition in patient consultations
Dementia and the Sense of Self
‘I am not what I say or what I do or what I remember. I am fundamentally more than that’
Bubble
A hospital visit to a friend profoundly altered bodily and mentally whilst being treated for an eating disorder
Resilience in Dancers
Dreams of dancing as a profession shattered by injury and a frank exploration of healthy and unhealthy embodiment within the discipline of dance
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
Loss
Respecting the patient’s identity and emotions equally alongside of equal value in the face of clinical interventions
Despair
Processing the devastating impact of a diagnosis of clinical depression witnessed in a GP consultation through layers of painting
Childhood Illness : the family impact
The irreversible effect of acute childhood illness on the family as a whole
Jane Doe
An intricate, sensitive analysis of consultation objectives and provision of appropriate holistic support.
Bad News
The perils of clinical burnout and preventative measures are discussed
Hercules
The weight of responsibility in patient-care and maintaining work/life balance
Surgeon Stress
Combined perspectives of a heart surgeon in practice and view of his own heart under medical pressures and the gaze of peers
Trading One Vice For The Other
A gritty encounter with the viscous circle of addiction and sensitive reflection around prevention and shared responsibility
Heart Strings
Employing skills in embroidery and applique to consider the complexities of living with dyslexia
Autism, art and animals
The positive impact of animal companions and the arts for children with autism
A heart
Poetic explorations of the heart in life and love – ‘a work in progress’
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
The Shadow of War
A call for increased clinical sensitivity to the impact of PTSD drawing on biographical material
Who says graffiti isn’t art
Musings on a commonly held misconception
A Patchwork of my Experiences
Personal insight into paediatric intensive care from staff perspective – and emotional challenges around modes of maintaining clinical professionalism
Resilience in the siblings of disabled children
An insider perspective around disability within the family unit contextualized through current research
Framing the Space
A G.P. and medical educator puts herself soundly on the line to develop, interpret and express her commitment to creativity in medicine through the hands-on engagement
Im Abendrot (Eichendorff)
Thoughts around embracing death and learning from the wisdom of age
The Placebo Effect
The impact of colour is considered within placebo medication and how sensory/creative engagement in general contributes to mental health
Connectedness in the Context of Healthcare
Shared humanity across the medical spectrum is valued with exceptional insight
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
The Impact of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The patient’s shaken life-world when faced with an initially invisible, degenerative condition
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
Isolation
The necessity of patient-centred care within dementia
Metamorphosis
Striving towards holism within medical education
Happy Birthday Helen
Considering the shortened life of the author’s elder sister
Lost
Bereavement and resilience: a personal perspective following family loss
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
Happy Pills
The value of simply offering a hand within healthcare
Recognising the carer as a patient too: focusing on young carers
An insight into shifting family dynamics once a child takes on the role of carer and ways children can be supported within this complex role-reversal
Songs of Courage
Healing through music therapy inspires a student’s poem
A journey to be avoided but not forgotten
Phenomenology as a resource for patients, carers and practitioners
The Art of Touch
Perspectives around of the role of touch between doctor and patient
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
Hope
The determination of a mother to ensure her son’s survival following a motor-cycle accident
Healing power of prayer
The role of faith in well-being under multi-perspectives scrutiny
My mind is not my own
A visual and audio interpretation of the impact of a stroke on a particular patient based on his detailed embodied descriptions
11 minutes
A family enmeshed in addiction to smoking – socio/cultural, emotional and medical issues unpicked with compassion
Life… injecting it or sucking it away?
The struggle to break the cycle of addiction explored
Orofacial Pain
The all-consuming and fragmenting impact of chronic and acute facial pain
Loss
The unexpected emotional impact of a family doctor’s concern for a man whose wife died of cancer
What’s Inside?
A thought-provoking case study of gender ambiguity and identity construction
‘The patient may appear well’ – Amy’s Story
The effect of medically unexplained symptoms and associated complex issues including self-harm
Schizophrenia
Stigma: the impact schizophrenia on a family unit and link with the film ‘A Beautiful Mind’
If in doubt, call it out!
The ward as a stressful environment when clinicians overlook patients’ privacy
Flight
Humorous account of a daughter/carer leaving this role after much provocation
Postcodes: are they a prescribing destiny?
Exploring the notion of post-code lottery regarding oncology treatment drawing on patient responses
Living with Alcoholism
The author’s experience as child/carer alongside her mother’s addiction
Thirst
Poem about author’s initial denial of diabetes
This is your Grandad
The death of a grandparent highlights tensions between bio-medical knowledges and personal loss.
How Am I?
Prose inspired by meeting a distraught, terminally-ill mother who had just given birth
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
Diagnosis: Loneliness
The impact of loneliness on individual well-being – a student’s social experiment
The Appearance of Disease
A student visualises patients from their medical notes pre-consultation
Skin awareness device for experiencing our interface with the world
The role of sensory embodiment within the clinical encounter and consequent impact on the quality of healthcare
The Phossy Jaw Story
Historical parallels with a jaw condition now being treated by genetic technology
Art and Medical Practice
The ‘whole’ patient as yet unseen – despite specialist investigations
Anti Mnemonist
Three intersecting graphic perspectives based on living with dementia and the underlying creative process
The Heart of the Matter
Musings on the heart, cultural, anatomical, personal inspired by patient artwork
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
Taking History
An insight into the impact a diagnosis of breast cancer upon a close-knit family
All Men are Equal
Psychological, physiological and social components are creatively addressed within a case-study based exploration of the impact of rheumatoid arthritis
Picking Up The Pieces
A musical composition inspired by a suicidal patient living in intolerable circumstances
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 Patient Examination
Non-dualism in Arts and Science
Listening To A Heart
Really listening patients, their hopes and fears and what has brought them to their doctor in the first place
The Architecture of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Caring and effective doctor-patient relationships from student observations within consultations
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
Dealing with Death
Are doctors prepared and resilient when treatment is no longer relevant, in the case of a dying patient and what is the patient’s agenda?
Open Your Eyes – Depression in Medical Students
Challenging misconceptions around medical health issues in medical education, a personal insight conveyed through film and text
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
The Power of the Environment and Creativity
A multi-faceted representation of the artist’s change over time
Mum
Searingly honest poem about a son’s changing relationship with his mother after she has a severe stroke
The Impact of Chronic Illness on Lifestyle
Symbolic acknowledgement of a close family-member’s courage through chemotherapy by removing of a lock of the artist’s own hair
Resilient Doctors
Views on doctors modelling health in work situations
A message to our future doctors
A patient’s careful observation of her GP before presenting the ‘full picture’
A message to our future doctors
The role of empathy in healthcare
A message to our future doctors
Ill-health as a roll of the dice
A message to our future doctors
The legacy of physical violence followed by insensitive attitudes in hospital
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
Experience. Inspiration. Knowledge. Growth.
The pivotal role of literature within a student’s medical journey
Love is all around
Collaborative construction inspired by patient insights and shared observations of heart -images emerging from social encounters and the environment
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
Emmanuel – A Gift, Too Soon
An obstetrician’s reflections upon the death of a newborn – from the child’s perspective
Dead Meat
Expectations and practicalities in anatomy sessions jar against thoughts of a donor’s lived experience
Eclipse
The fears of a foster mother to a young adult with Down’s syndrome who is experiencing undiagnosed pain and overwhelming seizures.
Dementia and whole person care
A medical student explores the challenges of connecting with residents in care-homes suffering from dementia and presents an insightful case-study
Sitting Opposite Miss Havisham
A photographic construction of a patient’s experience of agrophobia and anxiety
Fragmented Identity
A stark portrayal of identity-construction post-stroke
Asthma
A lyrical interpretation of respiratory challenges
Little Girl Lost
An illustrated poem reflecting turning points within cycles of depression
The way the doctor sees the patient and how the doctor sees themselves
A portrayal of how parts of a patient’s care can be missed by a lack of holistic care
The Twilight Years
Poignant narrative about a widow’s first day as a resident in a care home
Alzheimer’s Disease
Portrait depicting the isolation of Alzheimer’s disease
Trapped by Disease
The will to hold onto self-identity within rapidly advancing motor neuron disease
Dr Jones always tried to put himself in his patients shoes
How best can medics achieve this?
Hello Human
This felt portrait focuses on the need to touch and be touched from the perspectives of both clinician and patient
Things were rubbish until Josie came to love me
The pivotal role of dogs as companions for those living with disability
Touching Patients
Junior doctor comforting an elderly, recently bereaved man in a hospital corridor
Crisis-Point
A home-visit to elderly man provides an unexpected chink of connection through spirituality
Silence is the loudest cry – my approach to depression
Complexities around presenting with anxiety and depression – an informative, patient-based context
I would like you to relieve my pain
Insights into the challenges of supporting chronic pain through case-studies and clinical context
The effect of medical team-work on patient care
An analysis of interconnected network supporting holistic patient care in hospital
Pencil Drawing of an Old Man
Institutionalization and de-personalization in hospital healthcare
Mark
A wheel-chair user’s lived experience is ignored by her GP while a man-to-man chat ensues with her companion
The Renal Transplant Ordeal
The complexities of a kidney transplant, a student’s concern regarding the objectification of the patient in the name of cutting-edge research
The monster under the bed
Undetected socio-emotional issues which may surface following discharge
Stress in Medical Practice
Opening up conversations about stress in medical practice
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.
Rabbit
Losing the sense of time passing through drawing
Wave
Experimentation with vibrant colours, inspired by the ocean
Birds
Illustration of the varied stages of a bird’s life
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
The Constant Carer
An insight into caring within marriage
Doctors in the Movies
A humorous comparison between historical and contemporary models of consultation and home-visit
False Hope
The complexities of diagnosis and prognosis following a sudden bereavement
Distance
Poignant musings about the student’s younger sister and potentially diminishing bonds
Touch
A dying elderly man being comforted by his wife at his hospital bedside – discussion around withholding further medical intervention
Brother and Sister
Painting of the artist as a child with her sibling, from a long-lost photograph and this image becoming a talisman for the extended family
Some Kind of Miracle
Narrative from the perspective of a child about her terminally-ill mother coming home from hospital for Xmas, then remaining in remission for several years
Hearts
Ninety-two paper hearts to represent the loss of the artist’s father to heart disease
Sketchbook
Christine began documenting her environment in a sketchbook between group sessions and later moved towards imagined possibilities and cherished goals
My Life
A word and textile tribute to ‘The Heart’
The Streets of London
A familiar piece of music suddenly resonated powerfully with Lorna opening welcome appreciation of other ways of being
Solar Eclipse of the Eye
Living with acquired tetraplegia leads a student to re-consider the nature of embodiment – ‘after meeting Peter I question the need for our body at all’
Framed by Anxiety
A representation of the artist’s mother’s long-standing depression as a textile hanging inspired by a Celtic text
Heart
A sensory, tactile 3-D representation celebrating those close at hand
Anatomical Art
Art and anatomy intersect to further skills and understanding
Close-up: images of the body
‘The art has already been created, we just need to be reminded sometimes that it is still there’
Listen
Inspired by a message within the play ‘Cancer Tales’- this work highlights respect the patient’s story and their individuality
Self-Portrait
Writing as a process of identity exploration and creative resource
Helen’s Heart
The sensitive balance of emotional support and cognitive challenge in nurturing holistic well-being for children living with disability
Matthew John – Died Aged 9 Days
The longitudinal, emotional impact of an infant’s death from the obstetrician’s perspective
Infectious Love
The role of emotional healing within well-being for self and others
We Do Not Yet See Clearly But Hope is Gold
An evocative narrative, taking a universal approach to explore the role of hope within terminal illness
I Can Only Hope
The desire to maintain heart-felt life-values across time
Unpredictable
‘There will always be shadows on the land ..’ the dynamic balance between health and illness
One Small Drop
A philosophical, systems-thinking exploration with global implications
The Meaning of War
Illustrating the futility of war, and its human cost
When Conventional Drugs Fail Try Placebo
Exploring the complexities of the human mind in relation to therapeutics
My First Patient
Soldier confronted by desperate parents giving his water bottle to their child
The Truth
After visiting a children’s cancer-ward in Malaysia – the author speculates about ‘the gateway between life and death’
The Mirror of Perspective
Is death always a bad thing? The artist considers alternative viewpoints in context
My Experience of the Dissection Room
A searingly honest account of a student’s attempts to make the transition from individuals to educational cadavers
Paranoia
Figures carrying ‘secret’ health issues
Life in the Glasshouse
A terminally ill patient bodily connected to various machinery processes being on the threshold between life and death
The Window to the Patient
A celebration of the uniqueness of each individual
Emergency
A pivotal domestic reminder holds a father back from taking his own life
Termination
The emotional aftermath of an unwanted termination
Homonymous Hemianopia
Humorous poem about the impact of a stroke and the daily challenges of living with only seeing half of your immediate environment
Trapped
Prose from the viewpoint of young girl with her mother in consultation -unable to get word in edgewise
Disabled Mind
A teenager with a cleanliness phobia, perpetual hand-cleaning, turns inwards
Old Addicts
Poem about the precariousness of drug addiction
Imagine if?
Images of fruit and vegetables humorously positioned to represent significant and common patients’ clinical anxieties
Postnatal Depression
Powerful image and poem describing the agonizing physical and emotional impact of a traumatic childbirth
The Empathetic Doctor
Composite figure questioning assumptions and identification from cultural/social/gendered/racial and ageist perspectives
Vertigo
Synthesized image inspired by a patient living with distorted vision, fragile balance, and further complications
Support
Image of woman who has lost her child during early pregnancy – in the hands of her sensitive G.P.
The Slipper and the Shoe
A terminally-ill patient’s slipper and the shoe are symbolic of his attitude to life – never to give up
On the Outside
The universally shared complexities and challenges of emotionally supporting others
My Real Image
Patients carry the pain and fear of their loved-ones within their individual medical journey
Unhappy for 9 Years
Living with loss
The Destruction of Stigma
A graphic illustration and documentation of a young man’s acceptance of his HIV diagnosis
It’s all in the genes
A family’s challenges around the acceptance and perceptions of their daughter living with Downs Syndrome
What Can You See?
Artwork and narrative offering hope that even long-standing addiction can be minimized and a patient’s quality of life rebuilt
No one
A poetic processing of living with OCD
Face Value
Prose about a young medic feeling he had connected with a patient yet finding her case-notes revealed a very different story
Lady With Pink Hair
Young mother tragically contracting severe neurological condition during clinical treatment and deteriorating rapidly
Beyond Appearances
A student’s observation of a surgeon establishing clinical boundaries
How Can I Ever Forgive Myself?
Prose about a patient’s unbearable grief and guilt and a doctor’s support
Practise What You Preach
The hypocrisy of an authoritarian doctor with life-style issues lecturing on well-being
BERG Balance
Physiotherapist supporting a patient through a balance test
Real Symptoms
A challenging consultation with a dissatisfied, distraught patient
A Successful G.P. Consultation
Depiction of a positive G.P. consultation as anxiety diminishes
Helping Hands
Institutionalization and learned helplessness in hospital
Waking
Poignant narrative about a wife waking up next to frail and incapacitated husband
U.B.H.T Lost Property
A hospital-gowned patient at hospital desk – seeking his identity
The Patient
A bleak experience visiting a hospitalized friend – the complexities of mental health care
Broken Machine
Long-term in-patient relationship with their healthcare team – the challenge of preserving the individuality of the patient.
Doctor – Patient
The poet’s father, as a doctor finds a stay in hospital enlightening and determines to make positive changes as regards how he interacts his patients
I Have An Interest In Your Heart
A graphic and reflective response to the opt-out policy within organ donation
Patient X
This image and text raises complex issues around dis-empowerment and the quality of the patient’s individual lived experience
Life?
Concern regarding holistic care – review of a cocktail of medications and patient’s well-being and happiness in general
Pants
Poem about ‘strange privileges’ of doctors from the banal to the poignant clinical episodes
Full Moon
First visit to the surgery art sessions
Hand Sequence 1.
Illustrating a clasped hand, and all the potential implications this action has
Caterpillar to Butterfly
Thoughts on how medical education is a form of ‘metamorphosis’
Bob Marley
Interpreting Bob Marley’s unique style through a portrait
Thompson
Illustration of a friend’s cat, reminding a doctor of his place in life’s journey
2 in 1
Exploration of a duality of feelings
David
Challenging patient in residential care and student’s sense of failure in everyday interactions
New Glasses
Tough recognition of a grandparent’s emotional abuse, and perspectives around death and dying
Uncertainty
A pencil exploration of Dorothea Lange’s iconic image with a focus on the presence of conflicting emotions whilst living with ill-health
Chasing the Bismarck
A narrative inspired by a sailor-patient’s adventures: then creative writing in medicine under scrutiny
Healing Wounds
A short story of a consultation inspired by the architectural formation of ‘the bee’s cell’
Head Pain
Emotional or physical pain? – a hospital experience triggers the artist to reflect on the presentation and nature of symptoms in general
Too Young To Understand
A child unaware her mother is terminally ill and the moving description of a GP consultation orchestrated to protect her from this knowledge
Pandora’s Box
Auto-immune disorder wreaks emotional havoc for both the clinician-patient and his family
Taking
A mother’s mixed emotions around pregnancy and her unborn child and the future
Neglect
A visual interpretation of a patient’s physical and psychological state post-stroke
Daffodil
Metaphorical painting of renewal following traumatic episodes inspired by the artist’s lived experience
Tattoo
An elderly merchant seaman’s embodiment and identity seemingly affected by the surgical destruction of a prized tattoo
I am Like an Onion
Meeting an elderly lady with depression – haunted by her horrific childhood experiences in wartime Germany
Just a Reflection
A patient confronting her distorted posture- reflections on living with a degenerative disease
Tolerant Farmer
A stoic farmer reluctant to visit his G.P.
The Die Hard Smoker
An elderly smoker survives against the odds, defiant in his addiction to tobacco
Depression
A suicidal, depressed man confined at home
Nightmares
Tormented by nightmares – a family consultation highlights the crucial role of GP advice beyond the medical
Why do I feel so guilty about this?
Medical student on a ward with a dying man – feeling unable to comfort him
Contact
Dark and light – the complexities of consultations stripped bare
The Caring Doctor
Black humour around a doctor’s cynical outlook
The Snowman
Doctor-snowman made in response to wishes of a terminally-ill patient on a home-visit
The Patient
A traumatic experience of de-humamizing psychiatric care for a medical student in the 1960’s
Targets
Humorous response to government guidelines in general practice
Christmas Decorations
Narrative based on an encounter with an elderly lady in hospital ward not wanting to return home to her isolated existence
My Mother: The Stranger
The poet accompanies his mother through acute clinical depression
Sleepless
Sleep patterns following life’s journey, lyrical literary perspectives and legacy of broken sleep
Hearts Connect
‘Meeting’ the patient in an authentic way – in a memorable consultation
The Veil
The impossibility of cognitively coming to terms with news of a young baby’s imminent death
Kidney Flower
A patient living well with kidney disease is profoundly inspiring to the artist
The Eyes are the Window to The Soul
The artist suggests an important role of the doctor includes observing patients’ unspoken feelings
Bodies
A powerful poem around survival inspired by a prisoner of war in Burma who now finds himself dying from cancer as was the case for his recently and abruptly deceased wife
Two Women
The emotional fragility of fertility and socio/cultural context
Waiting Rooms
The surgery waiting room – exploring the body language of vulnerability
Whole Person Care
A challenge to holism and creativity within medical education.
The Art of General Practice
Beaming in on an array of symptoms presented by patient
That ‘s not what my doctor in Caithness said…
A doctor and student visit a fiercely independent elderly lady surviving in chaotic living conditions
Make a Difference
An insight into social deprivation through a chance encounter with a local resident
Medical Dilemma
An elderly woman in acute pain, balancing the level of pain-killers in question