ASaP went to Harvard in late February to tell its story and highlight the need for arts education for medical practitioners as a way to help them navigate in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty. Dr. Jay Baruch joined Rachel Balaban and Julie Strandberg for a presentation to an audience of 75 to address questions like why should physicians be taught to think like "science-using" artists and what happens when physicians and artists work together as partners to improve the health of patients?
Jay Baruch, Rachel Balaban, and Julie Strandberg at Le Lab
ASaP’s presenters showed photos, told stories and even encouraged people to get up and move to the music, which got the crowd buzzing. Overall, the reaction to ASaP was positive; several people asked how they could scale our program. It’s clear the work of ASaP resonated with this audience, and the concept of replicating it in other universities is one we will consider going forward. The ArtScience Talk series @Le Lab is an evening seminar series free and open to the public. Artists, designers, scientists, biologists, chefs, engineers, musicians, perfumers and more, carefully co-curated by major partners, talk about creativity and culture at the edges of art, science and design. The ASaP talk was moderated by Dr. Lisa Wong, an accomplished musician (violin and viola) and a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Milton Pediatrics.