The mission of the Medical Humanities Lab at UMass Medical School is to integrate the arts and humanities into medical education and healthcare through student, faculty, and staff collaborations fostering humanism in medicine.
A blog edited by Marya Pulaski
by Rose Schutzberg
The Opioid Exhibit curated by Hillary Mullan
The Interstitium is a multimedia, online home for the University of Massachusetts Medical School community members to reflect on their experiences. The site was developed as a space for pausing and processing amidst the grind of long study days or buzz of a busy clinic, with the hope of supporting, nourishing, and connecting the UMMS community. Submit your insights, questions, experiences, and comments to TheInterstitiumUMassMed@gmail.com.
Hi, I'm Rose. Visit the The Human Side (Of Medicine), where people always come first.
I am a medical student with a deep and burning love for human beings, here to challenge the notion that becoming a doctor is dehumanizing.
This website/podcast has two aims 1) to focus on what really matters within a life in medicine 2) to profile the extraordinary people who make up the world of medicine in a series called Humans of Medicine.
The Human Side (of Medicine) focuses on the diverse range of stories and people that make up medicine. And on the issues in medicine that are not always comfortable to discuss but are absolutely necessary for dismantling injustice within our field and getting to the heart of the matter. I want to inspire people from all walks of life to consider the health professions, and the best way I know how to do this is to lead by example.
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Thank you for stopping by.
According to the Department of Public Health, in 2018 there were approximately 2,000 opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts.The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling was founded and is facilitated by Annie Brewster, an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Nancy Marks, a Boston-based visual artist. The Project is an interactive art and storytelling project designed to encourage dialog, increase awareness, decrease stigma, and change societal views about addiction and those affected.
As a first-year student in the School of Medicine, Hillary Mullan, SOM ‘20 became interested in the role art and writing can play in healing. An opportunity arose for Mullan to volunteer with The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling. She was excited to work with the project, bringing an awareness to and humanizing the perception and treatment of those touched by substance abuse disorder. “I have found the stories told to me by patients and physicians to be very educational and memorable,” said Mullan, now a fourth-year student. “I thought that bringing the work to UMass Medical School would provide a powerful learning experience for members of our community.”
Participants in the project process their personal experiences through creating art and sharing their stories; these stories are recorded and then paired with the art to create a powerful audio-visual experience. The project “communicates and breathes life into the complex social narrative, with the goal of supporting individuals and families, strengthening communities, promoting positive social change and preventing opioid abuse and opioid related deaths,” according to the founders.
for audio only call: 617.902.0404 (use stop numbers)
Hosted by the Lamar Soutter Library, University of Massachusetts Medical School