Critical Issues & Literature and Medicine

The first English unit we took this year was the introductory first year class Critical Issues. Whilst the skills we have gained from our studies this year will be invaluable to the portion of our practice that relies on critical analysis, the humanities require a different way of accessing and presenting these competencies, and so it was useful to have some basic instruction on different fields of literary critical theory. In the second term we took the unit Literature and Medicine, which focused on different novels, plays, and poems every week that bore some relation to medical themes. These included such works as Frankenstein, poetry relating to AIDS, and I Henry IV. We explored such themes as medical research ethics, global health policy and historical attitudes to psychiatric conditions. 

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Philosophy and History of Medicine & Death, Dying, and Disease

Our semester one unit focused on such discussions as philosophical approaches to defining disease states, paradigm shifts in medical practice, embryo selection and the mereology of pregnancy. In semester two we focused on the definition and harm of death, the desirability of immortality, and the medicalisation and stigmatisation of illness. We benefitted from the contributions of some guest lecturers towards the end of the semester, touching on a wide array of topics including medicalisation of older age, silence and medicine, and illness and metaphor applied to the pandemic. Both of us were new to studying philosophy and found the conversations intellectually stimulating; hopefully we capitalised upon our background medical knowledge to bolster seminar debate. This approach to interacting with the module content forced us to better understand and articulate our own responses to these issues, whilst highlighting alternative perspectives. 

 

Graphic Medicine

This year we enjoyed sessions in graphic medicine led by Camille Aubry. Graphic medicine involves the use of comics to help educate or express thoughts, feelings and concerns surrounding medical experiences. These sessions allowed us to work with other Bristol medical students and trainee pathologists. Neither of us are natural artists, and this was an avenue that we had not explored before. By the end of the sessions, we had each produced our own medical comics, which are on display.

 

The Oakhill Sessions

We attended sessions run by Prof Gareth Williams which focused on the skills required to create and give a medical presentation. We covered such topics relating to medical ethics, such as the thalidomide scandal and the Willowbrook hepatitis experiments. The sessions culminated in a trip to the Jenner Museum earlier this week, where we gave our final presentations. These sessions have equipped us with valuable tools that we will be able to carry forward into our future medical practice, building our written and verbal communication skills as facilitated by Prof. Williams, who is himself a published author, with his most recent work coming out in June. 

 

Bodies: 2

This year we were given the opportunity to be involved with the Bodies: 2 conference, a medical humanities event held at the University that brought together authors and artists from across the patient and practitioner spectrum. We were involved in promoting the event, and had a role in helping the logistics of the day run smoothly, including welcoming and running a Q&A session for prospective medics as part of a widening participation scheme for local schools and colleges – all of which allowed us to build our transferable organisational skills. Furthermore, we had the pleasure of attending the talks, which provided valuable insights into how varied and rewarding a medical career that enmeshes aspects of the humanities can be. 

 

Dissertation

Our dissertation unit offered us a completely free choice of topic to write up to 8000 words. This process was supported by weekly dissertation lectures we attended which supplied us with the tools and guidance we needed as newcomers to this form of assessment. Additionally, we benefitted from the expertise of our respective supervisors, Steve De Hailes and John Lee (our course co-ordinator). The titles we chose were Eighteenth Century Experiences of Childbirth and Pregnancy: Using Fairytales and Folklore to Access an Authentic Female Narrative and Shakespeare and Psychiatry: The Bard as a Bridge across the Dramatically Growing Divide between Practice, Process, and Patient Experience in Categorical Psychiatry. Results are in June – fingers crossed!

 

Women and Medicine Exhibition – Threading the Needle

During the year we have been meeting regularly with Catherine Lamont-Robinson, who has been an invaluable source of support in stimulating our creativity and helping us prepare for this exhibition. Our sessions with Catherine have included workshops run with other medical students, and her connections with both students and other artistic groups outside the university have made possible some of the pieces you will see here today. This has been a challenging yet transformative process for the two of us, given our relative lack of prior experience in endeavours artistic. That being said, as you will hopefully see, we have come a long way over the course of this year and are proud in our newfound ability to outwardly express our inner creativity. We hope you enjoy the exhibition!