Abstract
Create (v.): from Latin ‘creatus’, to make grow, to bring forth, to produce, to beget. The historical entanglement of the words ‘create’ and ‘grow’ is a reminder of the ability of creativity to stimulate development and flourishing.
Why is creativity a valuable skill for health professionals? ‘Medicine is an art as well as a science’ is a cliché, but it is not without truth. ‘Art’ in this context does not mean the ability to paint or sculpt. It means having the confidence to trust yourself to make sound judgements when the situation cannot be resolved by recourse to science alone. Patients do not generally present in the guise of multiple-choice questions. Often there is no possibility of a single right answer, merely options for which exercising good judgement requires a mix of intuition and intelligence. Above all, the art of medicine is the recognition that the ability to respond effectively and compassionately to people in distress is not governed by protocols or mnemonics. It requires ingenuity. We must engage our moral imaginations to think ourselves into the predicament of others. The art of good doctoring is finding a balance between identifying with patients enough to convey that they matter, and not so much that it causes you to become emotionally exhausted. Having a sound sense of yourself as a creative being equips you to tap into your own resourcefulness and imagination, to care for others and, by extension, to care for yourself.
An important and enjoyable part of my job as a Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London’s School of Medicine is to curate opportunities for medical students and GP trainees to be creative. Engaging with the arts can be a daunting prospect, especially for those exposed to education systems in which the arts and the sciences were seen as mutually incompatible. ‘But I’m not artistic!’ is a phrase I have often heard when my students find that a range of creative workshops are on the timetable. Being creative is not the same as being artistic though. Although we all have the potential to become artistic, we already have an innate ability to be creative – to approach situations in a novel, expansive way that enriches our understanding of the situation and of ourselves.
How do we cultivate our creativity and how do we make time for it in busy lives? The first step is to take a few moments to take a creativity inventory. What do you already do that nurtures your creativity? This might be as simple as doodling as part of your notetaking process, or as elaborate as making how-to videos of your crafting skills. Think about those activities that you enjoy doing and consider how you might take them to the next level. If you love handling Playdough, might you enjoy having a go at sculpture? If you enjoy playing a musical instrument, have you thought of composing a piece of music, perhaps as a gift for someone you love?
Channelling your creativity into making things for friends and family can be very rewarding. Aren’t homemade thank-you cards from patients just the best? Try making your own cards, or baking and decorating birthday cakes rather than buying them. There is no shortage of inspiration, and instructions, for home crafting and baking on sites such as Pinterest and YouTube.
Often our intentions are good, but it is difficult to get motivated enough to follow through. Just like entering for a race is excellent impetus to do the training, having a goal in mind can be an incentive to ensure that you set aside time to be creative. One way of goal-setting is to enrol in a course. My friend, GP Patricia Law enrolled in a National Vocational Qualification course in flower arranging. She loved it and she met new people whose friendship has been enriching. She found the physical ‘presentness’ of flowers allowed her to let go of stress, and she enjoyed using a different part of her brain.
If a whole course seems too much of a commitment, consider enjoying a weekend of creativity. Charlotte Jenner organises wonderful retreats that include artist-led workshops and a plethora of creative opportunities. Called ‘A Nest of Gentle Makers’, this initiative draws on Charlotte’s insights from working in general practice, in which she found that making opportunities for connecting – with nature, with creativity, and with yourself – are vital to well-being (Jenner, 2021). Charlotte’s retreats are open to all, but have proved popular with doctors for whom creative activities are perfect way to achieve a state of ‘flow’ and to mindfully relax. Charlotte has also been involved in running well-being days for trainees. Activities, such as mending, knitting and sketching, outside of the usual medical setting offer opportunities for the trainees to reflect on concerns surfaced by their training. By safely and confidentially sharing their experiences, it is hoped that the trainees will be able to spot the signs of burnout and be better equipped to deal with pressure in their future careers.
Taking your existing interests to the next level is one way of enhancing your creativity, but do also consider trying something completely different. Doctors are, by nature of the profession, primed to be curious. It can be helpful to think of creativity as an extension of curiosity – the two qualities are intrinsically linked. Trying something entirely new though does require letting go of tendencies to perfectionism. I find this is the hardest thing to do for some of the medical students I teach. A helpful way to overcome this is to set time-limited creative exercises. Students learn to be comfortable with a ‘good enough’ effort within the time available rather than prolonged agonising about how their outputs will be judged – by themselves and their peers. Giving yourself just 30 minutes or an hour to accomplish something, such as drafting a poem or making a sketch, is a great way of getting off the mark.
Although creativity can act as an escape from the stresses and strains of the job, it can also enhance our work and study. On the intercalated BSc in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophy and Law at Imperial College, our medical students make an artwork in any medium as part of their research method for their projects. We call it ‘thinking through making’ and we encourage students to reflect on how the processes of academic research and making art intersect. Students tell us that the art piece helps them to conceptualise their research in helpful ways. A student using collage said that the process of deciding what to foreground and background helped her to re-evaluate the emphasis she had placed on certain themes in her research report. Another said that creating the artwork in the middle of producing a dissertation gave them the ‘head space’ to make more connections around the topic. Almost all students approached the requirement for an artwork with trepidation, but ended up enjoying it and finding it helpful. A former student, Dr Mark Tan, has kept up his creative writing. His poem, ‘Telephone Lament for Coronavirus’, featured on BBC Radio 4 (Tan, 2021), helped him to process the difficult experience of communicating with relatives of sick patients during the pandemic. It struck a chord, both with fellow health professionals and with those unable to provide in-person comfort to their loved ones.
Learning through observation is an important part of becoming a GP. Approaching observations in a creative way can help to consolidate knowledge and skills. Instead of restricting yourself to making notes, try ‘storyboarding’ observed consultations by making sketches or a comic strip to capture key elements – bearing in mind that representations must honour rather than trivialise the experiences of others. Challenge yourself to write a poem inspired by the haiku form – three lines consisting of, respectively, five, seven and five syllables – on a particular interaction. It is a simple-seeming task but it is requires sustained reflection to work out the essence of an encounter. Approaching learning in a creative way is much more likely to help make it ‘stick’. Reporting sessions to trainers can also be enlivened by creativity. I’ve seen some memorable representations of patients’ journeys where trainees have devised boardgames and even obstacle courses. Abstract photography has also been very powerful, as have spoken-word poems. Being inventive with how you present information enriches the experience of everyone present.
Making things in support of a cause, known as ‘craftivism’ (craft + activism), combines the personal fulfilment of making with the potential to make a social and political difference. There are plenty of causes to choose from, many of which involve health and the NHS. An ongoing campaign, #WeAreAllSmearReady, led by Helen Baker encourages women to book cervical screening tests (Baker, 2021). Craftivists cut, stick or sew mini pairs of pants, either with the help of a template provided by Helen or by going freestyle. The crafted pants are placed in public places and put on social media accompanied by messages raising awareness of the importance of screening. Craftivists are also hoping to influence the future of the NHS. Many have lobbied Members of Parliament about contentious reforms to the NHS by sending them handkerchiefs embroidered with ‘Don’t blow it’ in a reference to the proposed Health & Care Bill.
Whether you use creativity to enhance your personal fulfilment, or to innovate, or to develop your professional expertise or to lobby for change, being creative leads to a feel-good sense of accomplishment – especially if you concentrate on the process and worry less about the quality of the product. Prescribe yourself a creative activity to be taken regularly. Side effects are likely to be happiness and mental stimulation.
ORCID iD
Giskin Day https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-9267