Flourishing symposium

The face to face symposium took place in the Garrod Building of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The event was attended by people from various backgrounds which enriched the shared conversations through the day. The emerging key themes shown above were illustrated throughout the symposium by Camille Aubry.

During the day we heard from Freya (a medical student who was sculpting through the day), Keefe (a medical student who is also a pianist), Ivon (a medical student who is a musician and talked about his intercalated iBSc on uncertainty and creative enquiry).

Megan Tjasink (Lead Art Psychotherapist in Cancer and Palliative Care at Barts Health NHS Trust) shared her journey from establishing a grass roots art therapy programme for and in collaboration with trainee doctors on rotation at Barts hospital to running a multicentre RCT testing art therapy for reduction of burnout and mental distress in healthcare professionals in acute hospitals. Her talk can be found here, enter passcode to access the video (with period at the end): 5uXmQZ$.

In addition, Dr. Jane Myat kindly brought some illustrated playing cards for the attendees viewing pleasure. They intend to explore how we can meet well with those we encounter along the way of life. 

More details can be found here: https://www.thecards.org/clubs

The postcards laid on the table encourage reflection through imagery and have been used as part of ‘postcard exercises’ in workshops to break the ice and reflect on lived experiences with the help of the chosen image.