Research Explores Use of Role Play and Fabric Art with Medical Students in End of Life Care

The International Journal of the Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice IJCAIP is pleased to announce new peer reviewed research has just been published in November Issue # 10.

The November issue titled "The Fabric of Understanding, Medical Education, Fabric Art and End of Life Care, features research contributed by Andre Smith from The Department of Sociology, University of Victoria and explores the experiences of first and second year medical students who participated in a learning intervention that used fabric art and role playing to foster empathy in end of life care. The intervention draws on artwork by artist Deidre Scherer who depicts dying, death and grief in her work.

Medicine, Arts and Culture Important Intersections for New Advisory Board Member

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Journal Welcomes Dr. Michael Hutcheon to Advisory Board


The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) has recently announced that Dr. Michael Hutcheon has joined the journal Advisory Board. Dr. Michael Hutcheon is Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto and Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Education, The University Health Network. His research training in respirology was in pulmonary physiology and lung mechanics both at The University of Toronto and the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Hutcheon is a physician who has explored the intersections of the arts and health. Opera in medical education is a particular interest. He reports, "I have explored the meanings taken on by illnesses and the people who have them when medical information is interpreted in a social or cultural context. We have used opera as the cultural vehicle for this exploration. This has been my primary research interest for the past ten years."

Michael Hutcheon and collaborator Linda Hutcheon, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Toronto, have published a number of articles and three books. Their work on the cultural construction of sexuality, gender and disease in opera has been published in a book entitled Opera: Desire, Disease, Death (1996). Their second book, a study of both the real and the represented operatic body entitled Bodily Charm: Living Opera, was published in 2000. They have also published articles in this area in journals such as The Cambridge Opera Journal, Opera Quarterly, and the University of Toronto Quarterly. Their latest collaborative book called Opera: The Art of Dying, was published by Harvard University Press in 2004. They are currently studying creativity and aging through the late style and later lives of nineteenth and twentieth century opera composers.

"Few art forms are as thoroughly dependent as is tragic opera upon desire, suffering and death as narrative and emotional staples. The body, the live singing body on stage, gives voice to the drama of the suffering person."
Michael Hutcheon, Linda Hutcheon

Read more here

Scars as Art Tell True Stories of Change and Transformation

Artist Ted Meyer's "Scar Art" Shared on Website

There's a story behind every scar

and Ted Meyer has transformed

his own scars and the scars of

others into compelling works of art.

The 35 mono-prints, taken directly

from the skin of his models, are

portraits of the "scar stories"that have

changed people's lives.

Los Angeles based artist Ted Meyer’s

work is also a reflection of his own

experiences as a surgical patient.

He has generously shared

his work in his accessible catalogue available for viewing

at his website. Check it out. I thought you might be interested in a virtual tour.

Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program University of Alberta Balances Scientific Knowledge and Compassionate Care

More Program News...Humanities and Medicine

The Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine

Program at the University of Alberta is directed

to engendering a balance of scientific knowledge and

compassionate care among students, residents and faculty.

It is aimed at fostering the development of well-rounded,

health professionals who are skilled, reflexive and caring

practitioners. It is also aimed at extending and enriching

learning opportunities for students and faculty

across the university, as well as those in the Edmonton

community regarding intersections between the arts,

humanities, health and medicine. These have included

such initiatives as the Art in Medicine Club, History

of Medicine Club, International Health and History

of Medicine student groups, Music Makes Good

Medicine, “Hear’s to Your Health” Concert

Series and the Syncope Jazz Band, among others.

The Art in Medicine Club was initiated at

the University of Alberta in order to complement

the trend toward patient-centered care.

By fusing medicine with artistic expression,

the project provides medical students with the

opportunity to step away from the clinical aspects

of disease, and to focus on its human facets. The

program has resulted in works of art, which

have been created with the intention of conveying

a greater understanding and empathy for individuals

living with schizophrenia.

Find out more about The Arts and Humanities in

Health and Medicine Program University of Alberta at

http://www.med.ualberta.ca/education/ahhm.cfm

Visit gallery:

http://www.msa.ualberta.ca/med2006/aim/

Subscribe free to the CCAHTE Journal at ccahte@cmclean.com

and access more information about this program in our September 06

CCAHTE Journal issue "The Poetry of Practice" Pg. 6 - 7.

http://www.cmclean.com.