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SAN ANTONIO
MEDICINE

Artistic Expression in Medicine

By Ravjot Virdi

For this project, I chose to make a two-
part plaster mold of a medicine bottle.
After the mold was made, I used it to cre-
ate wax models of the bottle. My theme
for this project was mental health. In so-
ciety today, mental health is a topic that
is not talked about enough. The medicine
bottle I used for this project belongs to a
close family member who uses it to con-
tain anxiety medication. I have seen first-
hand how individuals with mental health
often feel the need to hide their illness.
Mental health is considered a taboo topic
in many societies, especially in South
Asian culture. To highlight the topic in
this project, each bottle is labeled with a
medication used to treat a different men-
tal illness. By creating a display that out-
wardly portrays this topic, I hope it will
spark conversation and promote greater
awareness on this important issue.

Ravjot Virdi is a medical student at the
UIW School of Osteopathic Medicne.

Contemporary By Winona Gbedey

Every three months, it’s the same dance. I know what they say about patients like me. Author’s note: “Contemporary” was inspired
There’s more to this choreography, but we “Uncontrolled,” “non-compliant,” and “non- by a patient interaction I had during my Fam-
never advance. adherence” makes three. ily Medicine clerkship. Written from the pa-
tient's point of view, this poem was made to be
We begin when she tells me my A1c is high. They don’t try to understand my life. a reflection of the unknown social and eco-
I pretend and tell her I don’t know why. They don’t know my triumph, my toil, my nomic factors that contribute to our patient's
strife. adherence to our treatment plans and to serve
“Are you taking your meds?” she always says. as a love-letter to practitioners who take the
“Sometimes,” I concede, “but I wish they cost I like her because she knows me and tries time to take these factors into account.
less.” To listen and understand why I always buy
fries.
Then she asks about diet and exercise. Winona Gbedey is a medical student
We talk about cutting out tortillas and fries. So we finish our dance, and then part ways. at the UT Health San Antonio Long
We work and wish for better days. School of Medicine and a member of
She concludes with a little encouragement. the BCMS Publications Committee.
I smile and nod, yet wonder if this is time well Every three months, we do this dance.
spent. But at least she tries to give me a chance.

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