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Infusing the medical school journey with beauty and passion
Art exhibit shares personal expressions of inspiration
Educeré, an art exhibit of works by UC Irvine medical student artists, is on display in the Medical Education building’s third-floor student lounge.
It is part of the School of Medicine's larger effort to incorporate the humanities and the arts into the study and practice of medicine.
The exhibit features seven photographs and one ink drawing that have been professionally mounted by an Irvine print house called Woodsnap.
Educeré kicked off with a Feb. 24 reception on the Medical Education building patio.
The art works, which were inspired by the second annual Medical Humanities Symposium held in January, represent each student’s unique perspective of providing care.
"The purpose of creating the exhibit was to highlight the therapeutic values of the visual arts and how it has the power to encourage empathy and foster cultural sensitivity as a means of strengthening positive human connection," said first-year medical student Richelle Roelandt Homo, one of the exhibit organizers.
"As physician-students, it is through the art of human kindness that we can heal others," she said, adding, "it is also through art that we are able to see through the eyes of our peers and are reminded why we chose to pursue medicine as our lifelong vocation.
"When a few of the attendees commented that we should bring the exhibit to the public eye because of how the eight artworks and stories powerfully showed the human side of becoming a doctor, I felt that Educeré has already started to accomplish its purpose."
The art by students Angela Allen, Melinda Schneider, Thalia Nguyen, Shella Raja, Andy Trang, John Jiao, Michael Niechayev and Homo, represents their travels abroad, their vision of the human body and their journey as future physicians.
"Medicine to me is about seeing beauty in all," said Allen, a first-year medical studenty.