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Hello, welcome to the fourth issue of the Flourishing Spaces Newsletter~ a small offering to pause in the midst of summer. Firstly, we would like to thank you for signing up to receive this gentle thread. We aim to connect a growing community committed to re-humanising medicine and education through creativity, reflection, and care. This isn’t about adding more noise to your inbox but some encouragement, a signpost to something meaningful, and a glimpse into what’s unfolding in our shared landscape. All previous newsletters can be read here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
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“I always have a sketchbook and pencil with me in hospital, it’s as important to me as bringing my toothbrush. When I can, I draw what’s around me, patients sleeping and busy medics, it’s real life drawing. It helps me stay calm and centred in difficult situations or even just passing the time!“ — Natasha Duggan
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Saturday, October 18th National Student Medical Humanities Conference 📍Newnham College, University of Cambridge |
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The conference invites contributions exploring the theme of ‘being a healer in the 21st century’ from students, academics, and healthcare professionals across all disciplines. Find out more here. Submissions to medhumsoc@cusu.cam.ac.uk are welcomed until 31st August. Key sub-themes for paper submissions: The erosion of the “hero” narrative Technology’s double-edged sword The crisis of meaning in medical training Medicine as labor vs. vocation Reclaiming the soul of medicine
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Contact details: Instagram of Cambridge Uni Medical Humanities Society: @cu.mhs More more information: aatqa.arham4@nhs.net |
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New summer issue by Journal of Holistic Healthcare coming out soon This upcoming edition focuses on “Shadow work”, an act of turning inwards and shining a light to the corners of ourselves we may not often look at. This process is a part of Louise Younie’s five-point model of flourishing, illustrated below by Camille Aubry. |
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JHH is published by the British Holistic Medical Association in the UK, issued three times a year (spring, summer, autumn/winter). It is a peer‑reviewed platform focused on developing humane, holistic healthcare which challenges reliance on pharmaceutical “magic bullets” and promotes diverse, integrative approaches across therapy, nursing, education, service design, and planetary well‑being.
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Dr. Nicola Gill and her work in medical education Flourishing spaces can be animated and enhanced through the arts and humanities to grow the human dimension of healthcare. Dr Nicola Gill shares some of the work she is doing in Yorkshire in medical education and her Art of Medicine website which is a wonderful resource for educators. |
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Experiencing art and being involved in creative activity improves our health and wellbeing and acts as a catalyst for learning in medical education. I use art and creativity in learning with undergraduates and postgraduates because they help leaners build skills, develop perspective, gain personal insight (including professionalism and flourishing) and learn about social advocacy. Our most recent project is a series of in-person interactive seminars supported by art and medical professionals and York Medical Society. At the seminars we use different art forms as a catalyst to connect and inspire clinical colleagues from different specialities and generations, any student or health professional in the region of Yorkshire is welcome to book a ticket and join in.
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CREATIVE ENQUIRY‘20/25 Vision’ by Yael Berenblut, shown at Barts Arts “Flourishing in Challenging Times” exhibition. The piece and accompanied reflection will be published in the upcoming edition of Journal of Holistic Healthcare.
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“ This piece is a self-portrait. At the start of this year, I was not able to distinguish what 2025 would truly look like. In the painting, my vision has enabled me to read up to the line indicating 20/25 vision, which means the phrase I can read is ‘Work to study to study to work…’. What I could not see was what the reality would truly be, the lines below 25, which complete the phrase ‘... but I am working to study to work’. I hope that when looking at my piece, you feel the disorientation, frustration, and discomfort that come with being stuck in the loop of study and work. I hope that viewing my piece will encourage wider discourse around financial support for medical students amongst students, medical professionals, institutions, and beyond.”
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TRY IT OUTArchiving moments of summer
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This summer I returned to Lapland after many years of not visiting. This is where I used to spend these months as a child. I collected the same flowers which have now bloomed for many years, again and again, but this time I had a journal with me in which I created a home for them. The products of the ground have traveled with me to London, reminding me of what once was, but what now lives in my mind’s palace of memories. The dried moss, drooping lilies, and ferns are a portal into those mosquito filled nights of forest walks lit by the mid-night sun. — Newsletter editor Elle Tallgren, 5th year medical student
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Flower pressing for capturing the fleeting moments of summer: Notice the nature around you, pick some flowers or small leafy plants. Place them in between news papers, and add heavy books on top. Wait for 1-2 days before checking the results~ the pressed pieces can be used for cards, collages, or as memorabilia in one’s journal. |
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“ To add pauses into our daily life. To talk, journal, make art in whatever way you choose. It is precisely these habits which sustain my clinical practice now, and will do into the future.”
— Kathleen Wenaden, GP From “Lessons in stillness (from a canal-boat)”, Journal of Holistic Healthcare, Volume 20, Issue 2, Summer 2023.
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If there’s something stirring for you after reading this, or if you simply want to say hello, we’re always here, just email us at creativeenquiry@gmail.com. We will see you again in the next newsletter, which is due to be published on the last Friday of August. With warmth, The Flourishing Spaces Team
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