Collecting the Spirit of Place: therapeutic work in medical residency

• Main Author: Pichie, Danielle
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: UBC Journal of Family Practice Research and Scholarship 2015
• Subjects: Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/familypractice/article/view/186645

Introduction: During my first four-month rural rotation, I experienced the life of a rural doctor that I knew I would enjoy and hoped to thrive in. Rural towns across BC and Canada are concerned about physician recruitment and retention, and ongoing research is examining factors that draw young physicians to certain locations, as well as what may influence their happiness and hopefully permanence in these places.Purpose: to self-reflectively examine and document the ways in which residents might connect deeply with places of residency training, with themselves, and ultimately with the places they choose to practice medicine.Background: In order to explore these concepts, I developed an interdisciplinary arts-based project drawing from Indigenous methodologies, which are often focused on in-depth experiences of place. The current medical literature supports the use of self-reflective and artistic pursuits as a means to both contribute valuable information regarding experience, as well as a therapeutic tool for patients and physicians.Methods: A combination of adaptive methods were used, including autoethnography, as well as story-telling, collage, walking, and collecting. The methods were community-based, using found objects and unsolicited donations which were collected and constructed into a piece of assemblage art that represents the connections I made to my placement. A piece of reflective writing was also produced, with accompanying photo documentation.Results/Conclusions: The assemblage art will be displayed at Research Day, as well as a synopsis of the reflective writing piece with specific elaboration on the themes of generosity, resourcefulness, isolation, recovery, and working within First Nations communities. This project allowed me to experience art as a personally therapeutic undertaking, as well as to begin to know a community in a deeper way through exploration and place-making, which has helped me to understand my own interpretation of meaningful medical practice and career satisfaction.