The natural beauty of human geography: The roles of art in surgery

Abstract

Human geography studies how humans interact with their environment, and how they shape it. To physicians, this term could also refer to an internal human geography—the sum of complex interactions between our cells, tissues, and organs. Surgeons have the ultimate privilege of altering this internal geography: to cure, to reconstruct, or to palliate. Health and disease have been documented in visual art since antiquity. Medical art does not only refer to the creation of refined anatomic plates such as those created by the likes of Andreas Vesalius, Max Brödel, or Dr Frank Netter. Artwork that portrays the customs of their time divulge information about diseases or medical practices. Art has both process-oriented and experiential roles for surgeons. We are all visual communicators. We sketch to explain diagnoses and procedures to patients and to teach trainees; We create graphs and visual abstracts to disseminate our research findings. We can also use existing artwork to teach observational skills, communication, perspective taking, and empathy. Some of us even create art as an outlet to share humorous occurrences, joy, sadness, or frustration. Medical art can be about internal human geography, as well as the dynamic interactions outside of oneself. The overarching effect of art, in all its forms, is communication.