THE SIRRIDGE OFFICE OF MEDICAL HUMANITIES AND BIOETHICS • UMKC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 2022 On the Cover Familiar Chaos moira wright fifth - year medical student UMKC School of Medicine I created this piece simply because I was tasked to create an abstract art piece for my medical humanities class. By far, this was my favorite homework I have been given. It was freeing to be able to put chaotic shapes down on paper, which felt like a stark contrast to the rules, procedures and guidelines we follow in medicine. However, I chose to insert faces to bring back some familiarity to the otherwise random piece. THE SIRRIDGE OFFICE OF MEDICAL HUMANITIES AND BIOETHICS Please send your essays, poetry and other artwork for future issues of Human Factor. To submit your entry, or for more information, contact Sarah McKee, Senior Office Support Assistant, Sirridge Office of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, at hallse@umkc.edu or 816-235-5882 or Relay Missouri: 800-735-2966 (TTY). Through this magazine, the University of Missouri-Kansas City provides a forum for many diverse, creative voices of the School of Medicine’s faculty, staff, residents, students and alumni. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of UMKC. All content posted by UMKC is the property of UMKC and is subject to copyright laws. Brian S. Carter, M.D. Chairman, and William and Marjorie Sirridge Professor, Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics Sarah McKee Senior Office Support Assistant Lisa Mallow Relationship Manager Bryce Puntenney Project Manager John Carmody Photographer Jason Yates Graphic Designer HUMAN FACTOR 2022 1 The Humanities – Helping Us “See” One Another A s founding faculty members of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine, Drs. William and Marjorie Sirridge taught and mentored an entire generation of medical students. Their belief in the value of partnership led them to develop the Docent system where a senior physician, serving as docent, fellows, residents and a junior and senior medical student partner to care for their patients. Beginning with early and continuing contact between students and their docents in the pre-clinical years, this unique system is further strengthened in the clinical years by including members of the interprofessional health care team William and Marjorie Sirridge also believed that to train superlative physicians, humanities education was just as essential as a great science education. For decades now, UMKC has fully integrated the humanities – history, the arts, ethics and professionalism – throughout its curriculum. So committed were the Sirridges that they founded and funded one of the first departments of medical humanities residing within a school of medicine. As we continue to wrestle with a global pandemic, the need for social justice, and the search for how physicians can know, value, and serve the communities from which their patients come, the role of the humanistic side of medicine has become increasingly clear to clinicians and patients alike. The way that literature, the arts, history and bioethics instruct us has a lot to do with how we “see” and consider the world in which we live and the people with whom we interact. Whether our interactions are social, professional or coincidental, seeing the other as one of us is a first step toward civility. Kindness extended or returned to all persons may be motivated by our seeing the unique contributions and beauty we each bring – much like how we appreciate art. Respectful and civil conversation can be pursued when we all acknowledge shared histories – and flaws. Our stories may be unique in certain ways, yet similar in others. The physician trained in the humanities can learn how to listen to others’ stories and acquire “other ways of knowing” – as said by noted narrative medicine expert Rita Charon, MD, PhD. This knowing, then, leads to doctoring that is attuned to not only science, but healing in all that it means. As we strive to enrich the experience of developing physicians by guidance through the humanities, we aim to help them learn to practice medicine with excellence, compassion and justice. I hope that you may see some of these aims reflected in the artwork contained in this edition of The Human Factor. I also hope that you take a moment to remember the vision and partnership of Drs. William and Marjorie Sirridge. Brian S. Carter, MD Chairman, and William and Marjorie Sirridge Professor Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics2 UMKC School of Medicine Losing Hope in Color rachel wright sixth - year medical student Demonstrates the progression of conversations between expecting parents eager for their first child, later devastated by their loss. Servant anna davis sixth - year medical student No medical student loves to answer the question of why they chose to pursue a career in medicine, however, I have found myself to be an exception in that I love to use the question as an open door to share the gospel with others. As a physician, I will have the opportunity to serve my patients, their families and my community through the act of being a servant to all who walk in the door of the clinic. Jesus dedicated his entire ministry on earth to serving others and I want to do the same. My art piece represents my dedication to serving others as the hands and feet of Christ. Matthew 20:28 HUMAN FACTOR 2022 3 The Universe is Perceived erin galakatos fifth - year medical student This art piece was created to depict an abstract perspective of a moment in time in our solar system. Each planet represents my personal take on how I envision that planet in orbit. The arrow in the upper right corner represents the inability to fully grasp the entirety of the universe; it continues, it grows, it extends beyond what we can see or know, much like the curiosities of medicine.4 UMKC School of Medicine Front-line Face emma gloe fifth - year medical student This portrait depicts a health care worker at the end of her shift, bearing the bruises of her mask and face shield. Since COVID-19 first struck the world in 2020, members of the medical community have fought diligently and bravely. This piece is meant to pay homage to their battle, and both the physical and psychological marks that have been left behind. HUMAN FACTOR 2022 5 Brown Paper Bags molly uhlenhake , m . d . umkc adjunct professor in internal medicine Brown paper bags held peanut butter sandwiches and an apple a day to keep the doctor away back in elementary school Now brown paper bags hold N95 masks for those brave enough to staff hospitals and clinics when suddenly schools are closed office buildings abandoned city streets empty We eat at home We learn at home We play at home We pray at home We work at home unless we are essential Brown paper bags used when hyperventilating to slow down anxious respirations now hold reusable N95 masks for anxious health care warriors who walk to COVID command centers that were once chapels but now hold consecrated masks and holy sanitizer instead of holy water We wait in rigid lines Staggered six feet apart to request the only weapon available against the enemy virus Instead of ordering BMPs and A1Cs we beg for PPE that is stored in brown paper bags We carry these bags As a mother carries a newborn child Cautiously and gently Guarded, we guard these bags As if they carried gold When instead they carry Our only weapon in the early fight against a deadly disease A virus has transformed us from healers to infantry doctors to soldiers accomplished physicians to timid cadets And yet, we are as noble as knights in shining armor standing on the front line armed only with brown paper bags It is the darkest of nights in a battle with no end in sight6 UMKC School of Medicine Choose Wisely mary l . wilkens med ed support services She was a-choosin’ like pickin’ out bargain shoes. No, he wasn’t purdy, but steadfast and sturdy. “He’s almost a fit, so hurry, before them shoes walk away! Buy now, pay later,” they said. She took them shoes to her own clean bed. For better or worse she bought the whole curse. But when her feet started swelling, she tried explainin’ and telling and cryin’ and wailing but he didn’t hear her, so she got her purse. She took her bare feet out to the street. He’d given her fits and now this was it! No more deny-un. Give up, Girl, you’re cryin’, and this is no way to live. This is NO way to live. HUMAN nataleigh messimore first year medical - md only student st . joseph campus Never have I held anything heavier than a human brain. My lack of strength was not to blame, but the weight of what made you human was in my hands. I held what was once you and wondered how what makes us human could be so restrained yet so boundless. How could only this hold all of you? In this moment I was reminded of your humanity; everything you were, everything you could have been. And how the most precious gift we are ever given was mine to hold. But one day I’ll hold something heavier. Lives will be mine to hold, to guide, to protect until what makes them human is all but gone. What a heavy, but honorable, weight to carry. HUMAN FACTOR 2022 7 The Length We Cast kale golden oms iv kcom My dad taught me to trout fish as soon as I could walk and I have been hooked ever since. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Last year, I took him trout fishing and, in the process, helped him rig the pole and cast out. This year, I took my baby boy fishing for the first time and he watched with joy as I landed a beautiful rainbow trout in the net. It’s funny how life works. You start small, watching others do the work. Soon, you become a teacher and a caretaker. Eventually, you will need someone to take care of you once again. This is the natural progression of life, making it imperative to be grateful whether you are the one giving of yourself or the one in need of help.Next >