Art of Salma

I often get confused looks when I tell people that I study both visual art and medicine. To many, these disciplines are just too different to be studied together. Other times, I get perplexed faces, curious as to how I became interested in the two. If you relate to either of these emotions, wondering "why art and medicine", allow me to explain:

​

Visual art symbolizes an expansion of our senses as it allows us to perceive reality through the visual senses. With an illustration or a painting, there is an opportunity to observe the world more acutely—as in within parameters that an artist has created—and provides the ability to share internal emotions that are unique to each of us, yet that all of us can understand. Within a piece of art, color becomes a concept and is transformed from quality to element. The system of creation and observation is a push-and-pull experience.

​

Learning and practicing this system establishes a sense of empathy and understanding of the thoughts or beliefs of another individual. The medical field equally requires a sense of creativity and empathy, and so physicians can also be termed as artists. The process of caring for another human being needs the creativity to understand one another—and although our bodies are an assemblage of connected systems, the ability to empathize is one aspect that separates us from machines. 

 

An artist strives to communicate ideas, and a physician seeks to gain insight through a new aspect of reality—both the artist and the physician attempt to understand and describe the world around us. And so, learning to combine the abstract and fluid qualities of art with the equally abstract yet rigid notions of medical studies, to me, feels fortuitously and elegantly suitable. People, in a way, are like paintings. Each of us has a story, and if we just take the time to observe, inquire, and appreciate it, we can learn more about our lives and each other. I believe my curiosity in admiring a piece of art has translated into an ability to empathize and extend compassion.

​

I have learned that the process of drawing and painting, like medicine, is that of discovery. It is the ability to rely on past observations coupled with the emotions that are intended to be conveyed. Drawing a subject or an object requires not only prior knowledge but also the ability to observe what is there. There is a sense of ambiguity, and it allows things to be open for interpretation in both the eyes of the artist and that of the observer. Ambiguity is a reality in medicine, and although it is not something that I have control over, I feel that the skills that I have developed in my artistic journey have made me more tolerant of ambiguity.

​

Medicine perfectly blends these aspects of creativity, observation, ambiguity, discovery, and empathy, just as much as the visual arts do. The rigor of a medical career demands lifelong learning and adaptation. Through the arts, I have learned that the art of healing requires imagination and creativity that allows for the formation of compassion. Pushing boundaries, as in understanding the interconnectedness of medicine and art, can help us further understand ourselves and each other. The ability to adapt, to create, to empathize, and to observe is one of the many aspects that make up an artist. But it is also one of the many that make up a physician. A physician who is capable of creativity is also one who is capable of compassion—and that, to me, is one of the most important aspects a physician can have.