I am honoured to provide you with an Art Inspiration Injection for October.
I just returned from attending the “Summer Course in Medical Humanities” in Padua Italy. First point to share… you are NEVER too old to be a student. Our mornings were spent in lectures given by Art/History/Medical Scholars and during the afternoons we visited churches, hospitals and galleries to see the stunning frescos and sculptures in situ.
The two images I have included typified what I took away from the course. The first image is a painting of William Harvey that hangs in the “Hall of Forty” at the University of Padua; which I found out is the 2nd oldest University IN THE WORLD (established in 1222). It was there while studying anatomy that William Harvey sewed the seeds that led to his determining that the circulatory system was a closed circuit filled with blood (not blood and air as previously thought). So my second point is in the form of a question… What problem might YOU solve, from your time as a medical student or resident, that will define you going forward?
The second image is a photograph I took while on a tour of Seguso Glass on Murano Island. This was part of our course; a private tour of the glass furnace of a family-owned company that is currently in it’s 34th generation. It is a very simple furnace, and the exquisite glass Art is created by master craftsmen using the same tools that were used in 1397. Their motto (and my last point to share with you) is “guard the past, preserve the knowledge, share the beauty”…
The Fresco murals Diego Rivera executed for the National Institute of are a testament to his talents as a painter as well as to his prodigious energy. The History of Cardiology consists of two panels of 6 m by 4 m and were completed in time for the inauguration of the new institute building on 18 April 1944.
Dr. Carol Ann Courneya is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at VFMP, and the chair of the well loved Cardiovascular Block.
Her research interests are in Medical Education, studying the role of Arts and Humanities in shaping wellness and professional identity in medical students.