AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BIOETHICS AND HUMANITIES—Interdisciplinary Dialogues: Voice, Trust, and Advocacy--Pittsburgh, PA October 24-27, 2019

Rachel Balaban | ASaP co-founder

Pittsburgh is the home of the Andy Warhol Museum, the Duquesne Incline, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the famous Primanti Brothers restaurant (and sandwich). Recently, Rachel visited Steel City, but only managed to get to the first two of these landmarks.

The purpose of the visit was to present at the 21st Annual Conference of The American Society For Bioethics and Humanities (Oct 24-27, 2019) along with Dr. Jay Baruch and Dr. Stacey Springs.

Jay and Stacey have been long-time partners of ASaP as well as collaborators on the Rhode Island Arts and Health Network, the subject of the presentation. This network is a collaboration between the Rhode Island Dept. of Health, the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts (RISCA), medical clinicians, public health officers, and over 20 community artists.

Their talk addressed the challenges and benefits of working on an interdisciplinary team whose goal is to create a statewide health plan, the first-of-its-kind, to advance the integration of arts, arts therapies, health and well-being. How to:

1.     Develop a strategy for interdisciplinary discussion that respects the voices of diverse stakeholders.

2.     Anticipate possible obstacles to productive conversations.

3.     Bridge interdisciplinary divides to build consensus on process and outcomes for projects.

The audience posed many engaging questions in the Q&A following their talk. Among those who attended was Dr. Rita Charon, physician, literary scholar and the founder and executive director of the Columbia Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University. Her presence at their talk and her insightful questions were clear evidence of her support for their work and her willingness to push boundaries of medicine to accept the arts for the power they offer.

Rachel also met Steven Langan, Director of Medical Humanities at University of Nebraska Omaha. He is a talented writer as well as a visionary, and she is looking forward to collaborating with the University of Nebraska Omaha in the near future. Stay tuned!

Humanities in Medicine Symposium—Jacksonville, Florida November 10-11, 2018

Melanie Ambler | Neuroscience Concentrator | Former ASaP TA

Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amrdbIfafTg&feature=youtu.be

            Over the weekend of November 10th and 11th, I had the pleasure of joining Rachel in what would be the most inspiring weekend of my life. For two jam-packed days, we existed in a microcosm of artist scientists, of professionals dedicated to the humanities in medicine. We spoke to physicians, art therapists, music therapists, photographers, teachers, students, and left each conversation with ideas and questions. A man asked me, after the first day, how I felt, and I could only respond with one word.

            “Invigorated.”

            We were treated to keynote speeches by some absolutely incredible individuals. Richard Kogan treated us to almost an hour and a half of combined music and lecture. He described the life of George Gershwin, one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century and punctuated each major life event with a signature piece written by Gershwin himself. A psychiatrist and renowned pianist, Dr. Kogan embodies the persona of the conference. He refuses to give up either passion and makes it a goal to learn more about his music through understanding the psychiatric intricacies of his patients. To say this talk was fascinating would be an understatement. He held the audience’s captivation—we laughed, some cried, and we all were transfixed while he played.

            The keynotes were just one component of the day. In between the morning keynotes were the PechaKucha Presentations, or a presentation consisting of 20 slides that automatically change after 20 seconds. The presenter has exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds. These presentations ranged from introducing Improv classes for doctors, using storytelling for persons with OCD, decreasing mental health stigma through graphic art, and, yours truly, Artists and Scientists as Partners.

            Rachel and I presented a PechaKucha entitled “You CAN Take it With You” in which we introduce ASaP and the wonderful opportunity it provides undergraduates like me to feel confident that they can take their passions with them into their futures. We started off the first 20 seconds with a bit of movement. Seeing the entire conference follow along and move to our beat was a really amazing visual. 200 hands shook in synchrony and I could see smiles forming on a lot of faces. After our presentation, one man came up to Rachel and said our entire presentation was like a dance. This was exactly what we were hoping for.

            Overall, my experience at the conference cemented what I want to do with my life. That’s no small task, but it was accomplished with ease once I met the attendees. It was such a welcoming, inclusive, supporting environment and I look forward to spreading this enthusiasm to others.