On this panel from Toronto, we’ll hear four great speakers. Unfortunately the audio starts slightly into Courtney’s presentation, but one can catch up quite quickly.
First up is Courtney Donovan. Courtney is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Human Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University. Of her presentation, Visualizing Medical Data Through Graphic Novels, she writes,
“In more recent years, there has been a burgeoning interest in graphic novels exploring health and medical themes. Researchers and practitioners across different fields have in particular been drawn to these texts as medical narratives. That is, these texts are ways of conveying the health care experiences of individuals affected by health and medical issues. In this presentation, I wish to explore how graphic novels of health and medicine act as a form of medical data visualization. In this respect, graphic novels of health and medicine provide an alternate and complementary way of conveying health and medical related issues previously represented exclusively through spatial and statistical data. To illustrate this idea, I will compare the spatial and statistical depiction of breast cancer data with how such information is presented in graphic novels of health and disease on the same subject.”
You can scroll through the images from Courtney’s presentation at this URL: http://prezi.com/w9dw18h1qpmr/visualizing-breast-cancer/?auth_key=cdaec1023aabc98d716de0c793db1f61a2cf7258
Second, we hear from Adam Mollinger, introduced by Neil Phillips. Adam is a doctor who has worked in general hospitals, forensic units and outpatient clinics across Australia. He has attained a Masters of Psychiatric Medicine. He is currently completing specialist qualifications in consultation-liaison psychiatry. He is interested in the interface between physical health and mental health. Of his presentation, Adam writes,
“Comics demonstrate the illness experience and the doctor-patient relationship. There are a selection of comics that present useful snapshots of the behaviour of patients and doctors. There are biological, psychological and social factors influencing how we experience illness and how we relate to our healthcare providers. Comics are a tool to reflect on this entirety of an individual’s illness experience. Such reflection is useful to doctors when the relationship between doctor and patient goes awry. This review uses comics to provide insight on how to manage such impaired relationships.”
Our third speaker is Janel Lee-Evoy. Janet Lee-Evoy is a third-year medical student at the University of Western Ontario with an interest in family medicine and psychiatry. She documents and reflects on her experiences through journaling, and writing and illustrating comics. In addition to writing, she also advocates for literacy promotion in health care settings. Of her presentation, she writes,
“Through writing a graphic novel about medical school I am attempting to provide an illustration of “how we train doctors”. I am documenting the transition from being a person “outside” the healthcare system, to becoming an inexorable component of that same system, with the hope of bridging some of the gaps between patients and doctors, and enabling some mutual understanding. Through this I also reflect on a number of ethical issues that have arisen during my medical school training, and will touch on how this practice of reflection is integral to becoming an effective physician.”
Janet says so eloquently in her presentation of making a graphic novel about medical school,
“It’s so important to reflect on experiences (ethically charged situations) because that’s all the teaching you’re going to get.”
And our fourth and final speaker is Danaka White. Danaka is a student at the University of Western Ontario completing her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy. Throughout her educational training as an occupational therapist she has combined her passion for the arts into the scientific practice of occupational therapy through artistically reflecting on experiences she has encountered in clinical practice. Of her presentation she writes,
“Reflection is an individualized experience that informs clinical reasoning, heightens awareness and encourages professional development (Kinsella, 2001). As a student occupational therapist, I have participated in clinical placements that have introduced me to the reality of working as a health care professional within the Canadian health care system. I have created comics that visually captured ethically challenging situations, which allowed me to engage in reflection and critical reflection in a unique way. These comics depict ethical tensions faced by healthcare professionals on a daily basis, revealing themes of personal judgement within healthcare practice, informed consent, and informal approaches versus formal approaches of assessment.”
Leave a Comment