This event seeks to start a conversation on Doctors in Arts.

Doctors are generally presumed to be intelligent beings and it is not unlikely that many have other talents which may have been suppressed by the study of science and the long tedious hours it takes to study and practice medicine. The question of what could have been if their suppressed or unearthed talents had been fully expressed represents a gap that spells lack of fulfillment for many.

Medicine itself is an art as the clinical examination and performance of surgery requires some “poetry.” Hence, it is not an accident that there are so many medical dramas on television. However, the stakes are high in real practice while the actors take all the glory in the fictional space.

As the stress of learning and practising medicine increases in this modern era, same one in which mental health issues are now rampant, doctors and everyone else need to find safe activities to help relax and develop resilience. Discovering something extra within one’s abilities can be very uplifting.

Whether it is singing, playing an instrument, performing comedy, writing, dancing, drawing and painting, or whatever, when a person delves into these for leisure or professionally, there is a release that promotes well-being and fulfilment.

Humans are social beings, so we need to interact with each other and with nature. Arts help to achieve and maximise this. Through Doctors in Arts, doctors can see colleagues expressing themselves. They can then search themselves and confidently come out of their shells and the wards to be fully expressed.

Perhaps, soon, we may have a “Doctors Got Talent” show in which medics strut their stuff to the delight of others and themselves