Kayla Simms, Founder of H.E.A.L.
Acrylic on canvas
We live not by compartmentalization, but by collaboration. We are a part of something much bigger than ourselves.
When I think of transforming training for modern care, I imagine an institution epitomized not by its dissemination of exclusive knowledge, but a reconstruction of the patient-physician dynamic - to unify, not divide. Compartmentalization is the bread-and-butter of medical knowledge. Patients, divided into sub-types. The body, separated by systems. The caregiver, detached from the care. In rediscovering medical training, we must learn again what we have always known - that life does not exist in a vacuum, and the body does not divide.
The culminating interplay depicted between the lungs and the trees reminds us to see similarities where we have been told there are differences. The air we breathe, merely a gift from Mother nature. The body's lungs, merely a mimic of Earth's perfection. We must remember this symbiosis when treating our patients. Love and respect triumph, for only an arbitrary line divides us at the bedside.
When I think of transforming training for modern care, I imagine an institution epitomized not by its dissemination of exclusive knowledge, but a reconstruction of the patient-physician dynamic - to unify, not divide. Compartmentalization is the bread-and-butter of medical knowledge. Patients, divided into sub-types. The body, separated by systems. The caregiver, detached from the care. In rediscovering medical training, we must learn again what we have always known - that life does not exist in a vacuum, and the body does not divide.
The culminating interplay depicted between the lungs and the trees reminds us to see similarities where we have been told there are differences. The air we breathe, merely a gift from Mother nature. The body's lungs, merely a mimic of Earth's perfection. We must remember this symbiosis when treating our patients. Love and respect triumph, for only an arbitrary line divides us at the bedside.
This original piece has appeared in The Body Electric at ICRE 2015 and the WHITE COAT, Warm heART Exhibit at CCME 2016.
