Medical Humanities Commons^™

Community - Volume 11

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Asclepius, Lia M. Smerina

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In That Space, We Were Communis, Eliana Namen

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In reflecting on my understanding of community, there were many moments I could have chosen to write about. Yet the memory of my grandmother’s death remains the one most deeply etched in me. When I began considering what community truly meant in my own life, I found myself returning to that room. In her illness and eventual passing, she drew together an extraordinary constellation of people: family, friends, neighbors, whose lives she had quietly shaped. Her life created ripples far beyond what any one person could see. In witnessing that gathering, I came to understand community not merely as shared …

The Geography Of Faces, Faith Abraham

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The Geography of Faces takes its title from the idea that a face, seen across decades, becomes a kind of landscape—something you learn to read not at a glance but through accumulated return visits. For Dr. Vasquez, an older physician who has seen so much, her patients' faces are the territory she has spent a lifetime learning to navigate.

The patients are chosen to represent different dimensions of that longevity. They show affection built on years of small battles, continuity across a family, autonomy that is respected. Together, these patients make the case that primary care is less about problems …

Stronger Together: Healing Through Joy, Archana Banda, Nupur S. Kumar

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Volunteering as Family Pals at Boggy Creek throughout medical school has reinforced the profound impact of communities united under a shared vision of uplifting one another. This organization cultivates a supportive camp environment for children with chronic medical conditions. One of the most meaningful aspects of these weekend adventures has been meeting children with conditions such as Type 1 Diabetes and VACTERL courageously navigating the challenges of their diagnoses while discovering new passions through activities including woodcraft, air hockey, boating, fishing, and archery.

Many times these children are excluded from normal camp experiences due to their special needs such as …

It’S Time. Maintaining Personal Relationships In Medical School, Rudayna S. Tabbara

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Colorblocks, Marianne Koleng

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The use of several colors to highlight the facial features in the portrait represents the various communities to which an individual belongs, including, but not limited to, their family, their school, religion, career, ethnicity, and more. Each color is used in many shapes within the face to evoke the shared importance of each community in creating identity, one is not superior to the other, and without each of them, we would not have the entire face.

The Making Of Man, Marianne Koleng

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The Making of Man is an abstract ink drawing depicting an individual's face, but at closer look, it is the intricacies that compose it. This goes to show that behind every individual, there is a community holding them together, even if it is not immediately apparent.

Side By Side, Elena L. Richardson

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This photograph captures what I came to understand as the true wealth of Mota Fofalia. In a place with few material resources, community was not just present - it was everything. These boys, arms slung around each other, smiling without hesitation, reflect a kind of belonging that doesn’t depend on circumstance. During my eight weeks there, I realized that while so much was limited, connection was abundant - and it was enough.

What She Carries, Elena L. Richardson

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This image captures the quieter side of community—the unseen labor that sustains it. Though she walks alone, everything she carries reflects a life woven into others: provision, responsibility, continuity. In rural Gujarat, I came to understand that community is not only found in togetherness, but in the everyday acts that hold it up.

More Than My Own Understanding, Danielle Gonzalez

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This reflective essay explores the intersection of faith, community, and medical training through the lens of a medical student navigating imposter syndrome, academic pressure, and clinical rotations. Through personal narrative and patient experiences, it examines how spirituality and shared human presence shape resilience, meaning, and belonging in medicine.

A Community That Always Welcomes Me Back Like I Never Left, Bibi Chaterpateah

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Rooted In Resilience, Pranita Talukder

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This poem reflects my evolving understanding of community—not as a fixed place, but as something shaped by loss, memory, and rebuilding. It draws from my experience of displacement and the quiet search for belonging in unfamiliar spaces.

Through simple, fragmented imagery, I wanted to capture the feeling of being untethered, and the slow, intentional process of finding connection again. The poem moves between past and present, holding both absence and presence at once.

Ultimately, it is about realizing that community is not something we return to, but something we carry and create, wherever we are.

Deep Cuts: Bearing Witness To The Erosion Of Evidence, Maya Lakshmi Srinivasan Md

Masters Theses

In my Master of Fine Arts thesis in Printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design, I examine the intersection of my dual practices as a general surgery resident and artist. Both disciplines require precision, incision, and tactility to navigate the human condition. My art practice is a method of processing the emotional toll of surgical training and the simultaneous societal erosion of scientific authority. My thesis work focuses on challenging the rise of medical pseudoscience and anti-intellectualism. The focal piece in this installation, In Tallow We Trust, consists of three woodblock relief prints at the scale of an …

Artistic Embodiment: The Role Of Art-Based Research In Communicating Disability Experiences, Juliana Scheopner

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Visual art has immense potential to communicate complex experiences of disability. As a disabled artist, I am interested in how disability has been portrayed in artwork, particularly in how other disabled artists choose to represent their lived experiences. Through art-based research, this study explores how disabled artists have used portraiture to depict their disability. Selected art includes work from Frida Kahlo, Deborah Padfield, Persimmon Blackbridge, and the author. Following an analysis of literature, selected artworks, and salient disability scholarship, emergent themes were identified. The focus on the complexity of disability experiences demonstrated the importance of considering a wide range of …

A Subdural Hemorrhage, Marianne Koleng

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This piece attempts to weave together an understanding of medicine, healing, trauma, and neuroscience through an exploration of past injury and how pivotal moments as such can influence a future career pursuing medicine. This piece also demonstrates how seeking attention can lead to deleterious health impacts and investigates the importance of tempering pride with humility.

Attention - Volume 10

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Abstract Attention, Colorized, Marianne Koleng

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This vibrant abstract painting that explores the fluidity of human feelings through bold, sweeping brushstrokes and a contrasting color palette. Bursts of red and orange suggest intensity and passion, while cooler blues and grays add a sense of introspection and calm. The lack of defined forms invites viewers to project their own interpretations, making the piece a dynamic reflection of chaos and beauty in the search for attention.

I Want You To Want Me, Marianne Koleng

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This piece calls to the theme of "attention" through a mixed media piece incorporating collage, ink, and colored pencil. It embraces the nuances of both anatomy and popular music, rock-and-roll, to be specific. The title is taken from the popular song by Cheap Trick, of the same name in an effort to elude to the desire for human attention in a human form.

Even Flow, Marianne Koleng

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This piece attempts to connect the "ebb and flow" of music and art with the sometimes strict interpretation of anatomy. It calls to attention what often seem as opposites - the cold nature of medicine and science with the seemingly warm and free nature of music and art. While many see them as opposites, this piece attempts to convey they are really two sides of the same coin.

Pick & Choose, Sana Lulu

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To me, attention goes hand in hand with patience and is a core part of my creative process. When it comes to my art, I generally ride inconsistent waves of inspiration, meaning I often churn out pieces all in one session, finessing a piece until I am satisfied. In that span of time, all that matters to me is getting my piece as close to how I picture it in my mind as possible, giving it my full undivided attention. I tend to fixate on projects and have a hard time revisiting them once I decide to end the session. …

Anne-Katrine, Tiffany Tran

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I wrote “Anne-Katrine” in memory of my late cousin. The poem explores how our attention lingers on those who have shaped us, reflecting the quiet, persistent act of remembering someone across time and space. It examines how mindful attention allows us to honor the past and keep cherished moments alive, even when we cannot hold them.

"Sees" The Day, Angelica M. Ruiz

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More Than Medicine: The Quiet Power Of Attention, Eleni Geletu

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This short reflection is based on my experience as a Patient Advocacy Representative. It tells the story of a phone call with a patient in distress and shows how simply paying attention and showing care can make a real difference. The piece reminds us that healing often begins with compassion, not just medicine. It highlights the importance of listening, empathy, and human connection in healthcare.

Keywords: compassion, patient care, attention, empathy, narrative medicine, advocacy, healing

The Crystal House Of The Valley, Melissa Gonzalez

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Reflections On Paying Attention, Cyril Blavo

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This is a reflection on attentiveness in communiciation.

More Of, Maxwell Corrigan

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More of is an album I produced and released in my second year of medical school. Writing music can be a way to process, much like journaling or other forms of artwork. In this way, my albums reflect many personal experiences, thoughts, and other innerworkings. My songwriting process is done in a free association style, as I find my music is most meaningful when it comes from a deeper consciousness. While many of the songs in More of resonate with classic imbalances of attention and care within relationships, my music functionally acts to draw out the things I often need …

Stillness, Fatima Bawaney

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Continuing On, Stephanie Singer

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A Gaze That Lingers, Vidhi Raval, Naman Gupta

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