I
Poetry reading and discussion: participant evaluations
Sam Button, Year 2 Medical student
Really interesting and useful, really nice to get an opportunity to talk about grief
and serious illness in a frank way, especially with a poet who was very good at
conveying aspects of these.
Really nice to have something involving literature as this is an interest of mine
that it is hard to explore while doing a medical degree.
Abhishek Rao, Year 4 medical student
I found the experience to be fantastic and extremely enlightening, introducing
me to new ideas and perceptions that I had previously not had a chance to
experience. I think it's very important to continue to offer and expand these sorts
of activities, as there is so much to be gained.
Matthew May, Year 5 medical student
Thank you! This has been a truly inspiring afternoon, which has changed my
perspectives on the power of poetry not only in medicine, but also exploring
themes of bereavement, the body, and the way we view the world. A very
valuable education experience which has really made me want to read and write
more.
Ros Hawley, Lime Arts Music for Health Specialist (working in a hospital setting)
This reading and discussion have been a crucial opportunity to strengthen the
relationship between the arts, human experience and medicine. It has opened
the door for future communication between Lime Arts and the work being done
at the medical school (we already run a PEP, but this afternoon has given further
opportunity for developing greater awareness of arts-medicine collaborations.
And it is also so important to hear the voice of human experience, shared
through poetry - an artistic dimension. Inspirational!
Zarat Queen, year 2 medical student
I think the reading session has been very healing. It has been a great opportunity
to really think. I have really enjoyed this learning experience.
Rhian Sneade, medical student taking a year out after year 4.
Massively useful. Gave some insight into the world of loss and grief that patients
suffer. This is helpful as when working as a doctor this will be able to guide me
regarding how best to approach such patients and their families. Thank you.
Please allow funding to be used for such enlightening workshops, that we as
students can benefit from.
Olivia George, year 2 medical student
Thank you so much to Rebecca Goss and Sarah Collins for organising the poetry
reading. As a former literature and languages student, it was really refreshing to
dip back into that world and indeed learn more about the bridge between art and
medicine. I feel that my arts degree has truly enriched my view of our world and
of people and of 'the human condition' - and as such has added so much to my
study of medicine - coming to the reading has enabled me to reconnect with this
and I would be glad to attend future events.
Bilguun Batbayar, year 2 medical student
Thank you. I really enjoyed the event. It was really useful to see and hear the
perspective of a mother who has been through such an unfortunate event and
how she has coped with it and still is coping.
Malcolm Colledge, honorary lecturer (teaching and research), Manchester medical
school
These poetry and creative sessions provide a valuable and essential part of the
medical curriculum.
Ian Townsend, playwright, and simulated patient, Manchester Medical School
This was a unique chance not only to hear some wonderful poetry, but also to see
how it links in with studies - medical and otherwise - and how life experiences of
hospitals, doctors, illness, and death can impact in people in different ways.
Thank you.
Bethany Butcher, Year 2 Medical Student
An interesting session. Thought-provoking about the nature of illness of children.
Relevant to our studies but also cathartic and helpful personally. A useful
reminder of why we are going into medicine! Something different enriching our
experience of the course.
Mark Fisher, Lime Music for Health, Composer/Musician
Fascinating to encounter a writer/poet who has written so eloquently and
movingly on the subject of bereavement. A knowledge of and interest in the
expressive arts is an integral part of an enquiring intellect. We have witnessed
medical students modify their approaches to patient care as a result of their
encounters with music for health.
Hugh McDonald, simulated patient and tutor, Manchester Medical School
A fascinating insight into the powerful, and visceral effect of poetry used to
illustrate aspects of "the body": in terms of life cycles, surgical experiences and
the personal effect on life itself. The symbolism used in poetry can create
powerful and challenging vignettes which some plodding prose can never
replicate.
Eleanor Ward, PhD student, Centre for New Writing, University of Manchester
Rebecca's reading and workshops today were really interesting, as being set in
the medical school, they focused on the interaction of poetry and medicine highly valuable.
Sargam Vohra, Year 3 medical student
Coming to the session by Rebecca Goss really helped me consider how we as
medical professionals can make a difference to families affected by bereavement
- empathy is fundamental for healthcare workers and this form of poetry really
helped me revisit its importance. The role of poetry is hugely underestimated in
medicine and medical communication - needs to be promoted and encouraged!
Tessa, MA student in creative writing, Centre for New Writing, University of
Manchester
Both inspiring and exciting to see a working poet in a different and interesting
place.
Professor Lawrence Cotter, cardiologist and consultation skills tutor, Manchester
Medical School
The reading and discussion improved my insight into the patient's perspective of
serious illness and death.
Sarah Shepherd, Lecturer in Consultation Skills, Manchester Medical School
Opened my mind to new perspectives and experiences which will only add to the
quality of my teaching for the students. Developed my language and encouraged
me to think beyond the surface meanings, and this will allow me to bring these
experiences into teaching.
Matthew May, Year 5 medical student
Inspirational and thought-provoking.
II
Poetry Workshop
I really enjoyed attending the workshop. It was very comforting to listen to
poetry about medical conditions. Being a medic means I think about medicine for
a long time, so it can sometimes get overwhelming. But looking at medicine
through poetry is healing and restoring. I think poetry gives medicine a more
humane perspective. The workshop gave me an opportunity to think deeply and
philosophically. I would love to attend more workshops like this.
Zarat Queen, year 2 medical student
Really enjoyable session. Very interesting, Made me think. Definitely should run
more sessions like this. Highlighted the relationship between medicine and art
for me. Liked the chance to discuss poetry and then to write some of our own.
Alice Butler, Year 2 medical student
A wonderful workshop, with a great range of poems, themes and writing advice.
It was a very accessible workshop for people of all abilities with a very open
atmosphere. Very inspiring!
Alice Ryrie, medical student at Brighton, intercalating in medical humanities at
Manchester.
Excellent workshop, thank you! I wouldn't change anything. Maybe a little more
time for writing at the end? Thanks again :)
Rhi Sneade, year 4 student, Manchester medical school.
Loved the hand exercise, AND very impressed with the variety of attempts and
interpretations made - especially by the students. A thought-provoking, warm
and life-enhancing experience. Anything which challenges our preconceptions
can only be a GOOD THING.
Hugh McDonald, simulated patient and tutor, Manchester Medical School.
Thank you so much for the invitation to Rebecca Goss's workshop. Thought
provoking, inspirational and good fun. I am quite certain I can take forward phrasings, images, concepts, use of language - into my sessions with the students.
The students' writing was incredible and of such a high standard.
Kath George, simulated patient and tutor, Manchester Medical School
II
Poetry workshop and Significant Illness teaching
As a final year medical student I was fortunate enough to have the extremely
valuable opportunity to take part in a full day of second year communication
skills teaching about significant illness. This was cleverly interwoven with poetry
analysis with the aid of an award winning poet, Rebecca Goss, and the amazing
contribution of two cancer survivors. We were taken through a whirlwind tour
of real patient experiences of hospital life and treatment at the same time as
considering the ethical, emotional and philosophical aspects to debilitating
illness, death and bereavement.
As well as being fantastically enjoyable throughout, it was a brilliant way to
introduce second year students to the lay person views and the importance and
significance of understand death and the roller-coaster ride involved for
patients. This is an inspiring method of teaching and should be strongly
encouraged and used far more frequently in the curriculum. Sarah Collins has a
magical way of drawing all students into the discussion and her love for the arts
is perfect in order to explore the emotions of doctors and patients alike.
The poetry workshop left me with a poem about my hands which I have already
fallen in love with. We were asked to write about our hands being tools, and I
wrote about my left hand; always blighted and bettered by the right!!
Left Hand - Matthew May
Alone
No use
Right gives abuse
And saves in crisis
Left to its own
Devices, but above all
Spared the scar of a drunken fool
Weak
Wobbly
Unsure
Never involved in the cure
Right, you're in charge, you take the lead
I'll be guiltless when guilty you plead
I understand that Sarah needs support in order to fund these types of events and
I think it would be a travesty if she could not build and develop this as part of the
curriculum. Art and medicine have been divided in my mind throughout the
course and this is a great shame. Art, music, poetry and creativity of any kind is
an invaluable aspect to mental and physical health and it should be promoted
alongside the academic side of the course as much as possible!
Matthew May - 5th March 2015
I found the session really insightful, especially speaking to a patient and the carer
of an individual who had cancer. It helped us see and learn about the carers
perspective as well as the patients and that was really interesting. It raised
questions that I’d not thought of before, such as how to communicate and explain
diagnosis with the people around you as a patient. The importance of the medical
team in the experience the patient and the carers have, and the impact we can
have with the choice of words we use and how we phrase them. Thank you again
for organising the session.
Bilguun Batbayar, Year 2 Student
I thoroughly enjoyed the session yesterday, I loved how intimate it was and I
think that helped the contributions. I've always been anti poetry but I thought it
really helped better understand a patient’s views.
Fraser Hunt, Year 2 student
I thoroughly enjoyed the Significant Illness session in the CSLC - three hours flew
by. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to listen to patient's experiences in
detail and gain a fuller picture of how illness impacts a patient's life from before
diagnosis to after they are better, and it served as a pertinent reminder to always
bear the 'whole person' in mind when meeting patients just for a short amount of
time. I also really appreciated the chance to look at some relevant poetry as again
it offered a fresh perspective on diagnosis and what illness means to different
people. Thanks for organising the session.
Olivia George, Year 2 student
In the poetry sessions , I found it interesting how poems from such a long time
ago can still be applied to people today and be used by people to feel a sense of
belonging. From the patients I learned that everyone has has emotional needs
both the patient and the family members. Generally our emotional needs don't
change until we start to experience hardship, like sickness. But when there is no
cure for the sickness, the emotional needs of the patient and family members
have to be managed. So in palliative care one has to manage the emotional needs
of patients to a higher degree than the symptoms, just my thoughts.
Siyar Abdurazaq, Year 2 student
I really enjoyed yesterday's session. I thought it was really interesting to hear a
patient's perspective of going through a significant illness; how they felt and how
they and their families dealt with the news and subsequent journey. I really
enjoyed looking at the poems as well - there isn't much of the arts included in the
medicine course and it something I am interested in so I was pleased with that
part of the session. Thank you. A wonderful session.
Amr Mohammad, Year 2 student
I found the session to be very helpful in the way that people describe their illness
and how they tend to reflect on it afterwards.
The most striking part for me was when the first lady we talked to (Macmillan
nurse who had breast cancer - I apologize for not remembering her name) told
us about how she reacted at first when she heard the news that she'd got cancer.
She described it as looking down into the room and not actually being in the
conversation itself. I'd only imagined this situation in movies before but for an
actual person to describe it to me was quite striking.
The poetry part of the session was particularly eye-opening as well. I'd never
heard of poetry being used in a medical setting before but to see how poetry
effectively describe the way patients and doctors feel was eye-opening. I've
never been a great fan of poetry but I felt that in these cases, it effectively
portrayed the sentiments and emotions of that particular moment.
Thank you for organising a great session Dr. Collins!
Yanish Poolovadoo, Year 2 student