“Together” is a glass mosaic representing both the collaborative and innovative nature of the medical field. Progressing from left to right, the piece shows a progression of medical technology, first depicting a mortar and pestle, then a vial and a syringe, a pill bottle, and finally, an electronic glucose monitor. This series of images is accompanied by a simple term, “Together,” which serves not only as a reminder to physicians and researchers that collaboration moves our field forwards, but also as a reminder to all of us of the importance of the physician-patient relationship. My conversations with my community partner covered a wide range of topics, but collaboration and innovation seemed to be two common threads across all of our discussions. His experiences of living with type-II diabetes highlighted the daily quality of life improvements associated with gaining access to new therapies and technologies, as well as the joys of having a physician ready to rejoice with him when his A1C fell, but also ready to support him and draw up a new treatment plan when his numbers were moving in the wrong direction. However, his story also highlighted that our field still has much work to do, and that as physicians we should not be complacent with the status quo. We should continue to work towards new treatments, but we also need to keep working towards closing existing gaps in patient care. While my community partner’s own experience with type-II diabetes has a happy ending, his family has suffered immense pain associated with losing other family members at young ages to diabetic complications that ultimately could have been prevented. Finally, I believe a mosaic is a fitting medium to convey this message, because as physicians we will never truly be able to capture the entire story of our patients, but it should always be our goal to gather enough fragments of their story to approximate the larger picture.
About the Artist: Ian George
Ian is a 2nd year medical student originally from Roswell, GA. He completed his undergraduate degree at Emory University, where he majored in Chemistry, Religion and Anthropology. Ian has not yet decided on a specific medical field, but he hopes to work in a field where he can build longitudinal relationships with his patients. He’s not sure if he will ever continue his anthropology or religion studies in an academic setting, but he believes he still has much to learn from his patients. While Ian has never pursued any formal art education, he has enjoyed exploring the mediums of photography and glass from a young age. Outside of medicine and art, Ian enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, running and camping.
Ian was excited to join SCOPES after learning about the program during last year’s exhibit. He believes that much like how a photograph only captures a single vantage point or how a mosaic constantly changes with the light, every patient that enters the clinic brings with them a wealth of experiences that are hidden beneath the surface. Art is an exciting way to explore these deeper connections within a patient, because it can often provide an avenue of exploration when words may otherwise fall flat.
