WATCH: It’s an art show where the competitors aren’t full-time artists, and all of the paintings have to be of the same thing. Elaine Yong explains.
It’s easy to make the assumption that medical students are science-minded, analytical, and not artistically inclined, but 24-year-old UBC medical student Bhavik Mistry and his fellow classmates prove otherwise.
“I think there are actually a lot of parallels between art and medicine,” says Mistry, “Both require someone who’s calm, dedicated, creative, detail-oriented.”
Mistry took part in an art competition for first-year UBC medical and dental students called “Heartfelt Images.” The contest has been running for 15 years and takes place at the end of their five weeks learning of the cardiovascular system.
Since 2000, the contest has grown to encompass all forms of artistic media, including paintings, sketches and even sculptures.
“We’ve had installations, we’ve had original pieces of music, so it’s quit extraordinary where this has gone,” explains Carol-Ann Courneya, an associate professor at the UBC Faculty of Medicine. She came up with the idea 15 years ago, challenging students to conceptualize the cardiovascular system through art.
Becoming an artist to become a doctor is not far-fetched. Research shows understanding and making art also creates better doctors and dentists by stimulating parts of the brain.
“They said it enhanced their learning, their ability to learn the science. They said art making helped them bear witness to the suffering of patients,” says Professor Courneya.
For Mistry, art is also a form of medicine. He received an honorable mention this year for his piece called “Timeless Treasures of the Heart,” and finished first last year.
This year’s piece is in honour of his younger brother, who died suddenly two-and-a-half months ago.
“Art really does help me sort out what I am feeling and when I am painting I sometimes can transform those feelings into something positive.”
Comments