A Journey into the Human Side of Medicine: Reflections on the College of Medicine’s Healer’s Art Program

When I first heard about the Healer’s Art program, the name was what intrigued me.

What did it mean to heal in medicine? What did it mean to call oneself a healer? And where, in the incredible whirlwind that is medical school – lectures, labs, clinical sessions, hospital visits, shadowing, examinations and more – did emotion and art fit? After months of pondering these questions, I was elated to find answers.

For five Monday evenings, just as the hallways of Health Sciences B Wing would quiet down for the night, Healer’s Art would take place. Each session, our group, an amalgamation of medical students, doctors and College of Medicine staff in Saskatoon and Regina, would gather to collectively explore a dimension of what it means to be human in medicine.

One of my favorite parts of it were the SEED talks.

Aptly named, these talks featured an incredible lineup of doctors, who through personal experiences as students and clinicians planted seeds of thought for us to water. Dr. Ginger Ruddy powerfully shared what discovering and nurturing your whole self in medicine means, Dr. Rachel Gough called on us to reflect on how we honour loss, Dr. Solveig Nilson moved us to reflect on how we share grief, Dr. Meredith McKague encouraged us to embrace the awe in medicine and Dr. Sarah Forgie inspired us to think of why service as a way of life matters. 

Dr. Forgie with members of the Saskatoon Healer’s Art group.

Although each detailed a different set of experiences, I was struck at the bravery and kindness of each speaker in sharing the moments that shaped them and their careers. As students, at the beginning of a long road of education and training ahead, it was validating to hear leaders in medicine reflect on how medical school challenged them and powerful to see how they incorporated compassion into their own medical practices. Each of them humanized medicine and what it means to be a doctor in their own way. Together, they powerfully proposed that medicine is about holding space for heart, emotions and life experiences, a lesson I will hold on to.

Reflecting on it now, perhaps the greatest power of the Healer’s Art program lies in the camaraderie it cultivated. Many of the topics we discussed, like grief, loss, imposter syndrome, how to care for patients and ourselves in medicine were challenging, both personally and professionally. Yet, I was amazed at how week after week, after long days of school, we still showed up for ourselves and each other, ready to share, listen and grow.

Some of these discussions were the first times I was hearing my peers’ life stories outside of the classroom and sharing my own stories with them. I’m forever grateful for the trust we placed in each other because it led to greater understanding and friendship, and a common consensus that we aren’t alone on this medical journey. The program is a powerful reminder that courageous conversations that check in on peers, sort through difficult situations and challenge us to think critically, matter. Only with them will we and the field of medicine grow.

As my first year of medical school draws to a close and I reflect on all the incredible moments that have composed it, the Healer’s Art program will be one of my favorite experiences of the year. The program, the lessons from it and the experience of collectively exploring the art of medicine, will greatly shape my approach to medicine and the kind of doctor I aspire to be. I look forward to welcoming the next cohort of medical students and encourage them to make Healer’s Art a part of their first year too – together, I can’t wait to continue exploring the human side of medicine.

At the start of the program each of us were gifted the most beautiful handmade notebooks and now, each time I look at its bright colours, I think of the Healer’s Art program as just that, a gift. A gift to remind us that the human experience will always matter in medicine and that as we make our way through medical school, we now have this circle of care to lean on and learn from.

My sincere thanks to the incredible team from the College of Medicine for their leadership, facilitation, and dedication to every aspect of the Healer’s Art program, the guest speakers for honouring us with their insights and my amazing peers in the program for walking on this path together.