The Voices in Humanism (Voices) initiative is a collaboration between The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine’s Gold Humanism Honor Society Resident Chapter and the OSU Medical Heritage Center. The mission is to collect, preserve, and share the arts created during this challenging time. Students, residents, faculty, staff, alumni, and all members of the healthcare family submit all forms of visual arts, writing, and music to the collection. To view the growing collection, visit the Voices webpage.
Quarantine Still Life was submitted by Sabrina Mackey-Alfonso, an M2 at the OSU College of Medicine.
“Art is an escape for me. With everything going on in the world, I needed re-centering,” said Ms. Mackey-Alfonso. “This still life, created from things I found in my apartment, brought me back to my studio drawing days in undergrad, which I deeply miss. I loved the way the light came through the glass and the shadows they cast. It was just what I needed,” continued Ms. Mackey-Alfonso.
Blooming in Isolation was submitted by Sierra Schwierking, an undergraduate student at OSU.
Ms. Schwierking wrote this poem at the beginning of quarantine. “I was having a hard time finding anything positive,” she said. “I was stuck in a cycle thinking of everything quarantine was preventing me from doing. Eventually, I tried to see what opportunities the experience of being isolated could bring and how I could work on improving myself in ways that I used to think I didn’t have time for,” Ms. Schwierking continued.
“That change in perspective brought a great deal of joy into my life and I hoped that the poem would bring a hopeful perspective to others struggling as well,” Ms. Schwierking concluded.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) is partnering in this initiative by highlighting pieces of work in the Weekly Family Medicine Update, as well as on the Joy Among Chaos webpage. If you would like to contribute to this collection and share your own piece of work that reflects thoughts during this time of dual pandemics as we struggle to understand the impact on our patients, their families, our communities, our profession, and ourselves, we encourage you to do so. Submissions may be emailed to LCStoneMD@columbus.rr.com.
Financial support for this program is provided by the AAFP Foundation Philanthropic Consortium (FMPC) which is funded by members like you! Help programs like this continue to support family medicine by giving to the FMPC. Designate “Chapter Grants” when making your gift online. Thank you!