Yale Program for Humanities in Medicine Hosts Symposium on Art and the Art of Healing

The Program for Humanities in Medicine at Yale University is sponsoring a symposium on Sunday, October 22, at the Yale Medical School on the nature of creativity in medicine and art.

The symposium, which will gather health care professionals and artists, grew from an exhibition with a medical theme currently on view at untitled (space)13, a local art gallery. Titled “Foreign Bodies,” the exhibition features 16 artists who incorporate medical technology in their work.

Irwin Braverman, professor of dermatology, and Thomas Duffy, professor of hematology, will be among the Yale physicians participating in the event. Artists whose work appears in the “Foreign Bodies” exhibition will also take part.

Dr. Howard Spiro established the Program for the Humanities in Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine in 1983. Its mission is to enhance public understanding of the links between the creative and liberal arts and the practice of medicine.

In 1999, under the direction of Duffy, a sub-committee on the arts was created to develop and implement programs that integrate the arts and humanities into the provision of health care and to serve as a community resource.

The symposium will take place from 1-5 p.m. at the Hope Building Auditorium, Sterling Hall of Medicine, 333 Cedar St.