It may be hard to put your finger on it, but Fight it out often allows students to connect their classes to something more personal.
The university’s emphasis on interdisciplinary education is a major initiative that colors students’ academic experiences. While there are many examples of these connections between people, courses, fields, and departments, few so tangibly represent those connections like The SCOPES Project , which connects arts plus humanities to medical schooling at Duke.
Art and medicine can exist in entirely different worlds. They can appeal to different people and tell different stories. But why be simple when you can be, well… stunning? They may be integrated to form something powerful, and that’s precisely what SCOPES leadership members Isa DeLaura, Raluca Gosman, Mason Seely, David Stevens, and Lindsay Olson aimed to do.
“It is encouraging as an upperclassman who previously participated in this program to see rising students continue the particular tradition of incorporating the humanities into medical practice, ” Mason Seeley says. The generational aspect associated with the project seems to contribute to its personality; participants bring their own perspectives to their work only to walk away with dozens more.
“Having the creative outlet has helped me process interactions with patients and the particular difficulties of the profession, and celebrate happy moments as well, ” says Isa DeLaura.
“The goal will be to give artists creative freedom to explore their relationships with their patients with whatever medium and in whatever style works best for them. As such, every year the feel is usually entirely based on the particular decisions associated with the artists. ”
Isa DeLaura, MS3+
David Stevens insists that the artists “resist… forces of depersonalization within compelling plus beautiful ways. ”
The particular project is definitely inspired and supported simply by yet another interdisciplinary Duke effort called APPLE (Appreciating Patient Perspectives through Longitudinal Encounters), which links medical college students with individuals living with chronic illnesses. The artists/medical students/empaths-in-training then attended multiple innovative workshops plus developed art pieces in order to reflect their own patients’ individual experiences. But this year’s 6th annual SCOPES exhibition looks a bit different from past years’ (which are conveniently available online for your own viewing pleasure).
Having went to many an art opening myself, I am unashamed to say that much of my enjoyment comes from the particular cheeseplates (and the excitement in the air, but that’s besides the point). Some exhibitions opt for a traditional charcuterie, some marked Kirkland Signature and others displayed on a handmade butcherblock. The point of fingerfoods is to encourage the particular attendees in order to stand up, walk around, and interact along with the masses. But it also encourages attendees to “just stop by, ” making the affair all the less intimate.
Following limitations on group gatherings Fight it out enforced during COVID, the particular SCOPES team decided in order to apply their particular newfangled interdisciplinary/revolutionary/innovative thinking to the artwork opening itself: They held a banquet.
“I loved the way this turned out, ” states DeLaura. “It was very personal plus made for great discussion and comradery. ”
“SCOPES has provided an opportunity to reflect upon my experiences as a first-year medical student while also exploring new ways to combine various art forms in order to create the vision, ” says Taylor Yoder, who created Fences, Rivers, Walls, pictured above. “I hope to continue shooting film throughout my medical education and career. ”
I was particularly (although wrongfully) surprised about the variety in the exhibit. While the performers attended the same workshops and worked with patients through the same program, they took radically various approaches to their creations. Esme Trahair, a second-year medical college student, was a humanities major in undergrad. Her piece combines historical perspectives with modern (although antiquated) mechanisms, emphasizing “the importance of remembering and learning from historical, outdated medical teachings. ”
The work features a variety of viewpoints, but also some clear motifs that could be key takeaways with regard to future healthcare providers. Like Yoder, artist Kreager Taber explores the patient’s value of “home. ” Exploring these motifs could allow for more private, “upstream” healthcare.
This year’s SCOPES exhibition is kept in the particular Mars Gallery within the Duke University Hospital Concourse. It is a good initiative of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History associated with Medicine at the Fight it out University School of Medicine. It will be on display August 9-September 29, plus available regarding viewing online at this link.
P. S. If you are an MS1 student interested in participating in SCOPES, I have a link for you!
Post by Olivia Ares, Class of 2025