Tag: intercalated BSc

Yorùbá medicine, textiles, and putting the creativity back into medical school

Demi Onanuga, a graduate of the BSc in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophy & Law at Imperial, talks to us about her project on Yorùbá medicine, and the accompanying artwork she produced.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you chose to do the BSc in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophy & Law (HPL)?

Hi! I’m Demi, now a 4th year medical student at UCL who intercalated in HPL during my 3rd year. Even before I started uni, I wanted to intercalate in a Humanities-focused degree, and second year just solidified my need to appreciate aspects of medicine beyond the purely physiological. HPL seemed to be the perfect mix of academia and creativity, which was just what I needed.

The final part of the BSc involves students choosing their own extended project. What was your HPL project about?

My project discussed the role of the spirit in medical care. I explored the interconnectedness of the body, mind, and spirit by paralleling Western medicine as it is practised in the UK, with Yorùbá indigenous healing practice. Spiritual balance is just as important as physical wellbeing in traditional Yorùbá medicine. I explored this holistic approach to healing, which appreciates the significance of the spirit. I also proposed engagement in the arts as a means of reintegrating care for the spirit within whole-person medicine.

The HPL project also includes an artistic component (which is unassessed, but an important part of the project). How did you approach this? What was your artwork?

This was an aspect of the course that I had been looking forward to throughout the year. I would consider myself relatively creative but had neglected that part of myself in my earlier years of med school, so this was the perfect excuse to engage these seemingly opposing interests. When the time came to actually make my artwork, it felt intimidating. However, the deeper I got into the research, the more clarity I had in terms of what I needed to create.

I used a Yorùbá dyeing method called àdìrẹ eleko, which is a starch resist technique. I had a fabulous project supervisor, Dr Jane Wildgoose, who was well versed in dyeing processes and provided support and useful insights throughout the process. Cassava flour and water were heated into a paste that was then painted onto a piece of cotton fabric. I would let that dry for a full day and then dye it in an indigo vat. This was very messy – I had to spend a few days cleaning indigo dye from small nooks and crannies of my flat! After making a few samples to determine the best paste consistency and number of dips needed to get my desired shade of blue, I painted and dyed the final design onto cotton that had been cut so it could be sewn into a pillowcase. As much as I loved how the end product looked, it felt a bit flat to me, so I chose to bead parts of the pillowcase as a finishing touch to add some texture.

A photo of a saucepan on a stove. A wooden spoon is being used to stir the thick white mixture inside.
Cassava flour and water being heated into a paste.
Photo of a washing airer on a balcony surrounded by newspaper and dyeing equipment. On the airer is a long piece of blue fabric.
The dyed fabric is dried.
Image of a long piece of light blue fabric patterned with white.
The final result!

At the end of the project period, students have their artwork displayed in a public exhibition on campus. What was it like seeing your work (left) on show? Have you had any interesting feedback?

The exhibition was an interesting experience. It was cool to see my work hung up in the gallery and at the same time weird and rewarding, that what often felt like a small craft project was given this legitimacy. I most enjoyed turning the question back on people when they asked me what my artwork was all about, just to see what other people saw in its abstract shapes.

Have you kept the artwork on display for yourself at home?

Unfortunately, it is not on display because I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. I should probably do something about that… Someone suggested sewing it back into a pillow and displaying it on my bed but for the time being it is hanging alongside my coats on a rack.

Do you think you’ll explore Humanities themes through artwork again in the future?

I would love to do something like this again. The entire process was really engaging and enjoyable. My biggest lesson from completing my project, as well as the wider HPL experience, was the value of creative inquiry in exploring the intersection of humanities and medicine. For me, it was a clear recurring theme that cut across all the subject areas within the course. It is a lesson I hope to carry with me throughout my studies and practice.

 

 

 

Demi Onanuga is a medical student at Imperial College London.

The iBSc and Beyond with Evan Diver-Hall

Evan Diver-Hall, a doctor and graduate of Imperial, tells us how his dissertation project set up an enduring interest in the Medical Humanities, and led him to present at a History conference in Leeds.

After graduating from the iBSc in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophy and Law (HPL) in 2024, I underwent quite a dramatic cognitive shift. After a year spent being encouraged to think creatively, critically and holistically, I was suddenly back in the world of clinical medicine. It took some time to get used to. I’m sure many HPL alumni can relate to the slight culture shock of returning to the wards. Since then, I’ve recently graduated from medical school and, in hindsight, that post-HPL adjustment period didn’t last long. Before I knew it, I was immersed once again in the world of medicine: rehearsing for OSCEs, reciting bizarre acronyms, and being tormented by revision flashcards in my dreams.

After graduating, though, I realized that the part of my brain that had been so thoroughly exercised during HPL, the creative and analytical part, was beginning to gather dust. I wanted to put it back to work. So, I revisited my dissertation and applied to present my research at the Society for the Social History of Medicine’s international conference in Leeds.

My dissertation project was interdisciplinary but, put simply, it used visual media – specifically the title pages of two 17th-century editions of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine – to explore changing relationships between medicine and the natural world. A little niche, perhaps! Yet the project took me on an unexpected intellectual journey, opening up an era of history that had previously been completely unfamiliar to me.

A doctor taking a woman’s pulse, from Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Through medieval Persia, I encountered a conception of medicine and healing that was deeply intertwined with the rhythms of the natural world. In contrast, printed Venetian editions of the same text reflected a far more exploitative relationship between humans and nature. I found these contrasting perspectives fascinating and, without exaggeration, they altered the way I think about medicine and our place in the world. Over the past few years I’ve been exploring Buddhism and its philosophies and, rereading my dissertation, I can now recognize the early seeds of ideas that have continued to grow and shape my thinking.

Originally, I had planned to attend the SSHM conference with a friend from the same HPL cohort as me. Both of our abstracts had been accepted, but unfortunately a family trekking trip across Albania meant that Leeds would have to wait to hear about her fascinating project! This meant I would be going alone. I was fortunate enough to receive a bursary from the Society, which meant I could book myself a nice hotel in Leeds and make the most of the experience.

Walking into an academic environment so different from my current career felt daunting. However, once I put those nerves aside and simply appreciated the privilege of being surrounded by such an enthusiastic community of historians, clinicians and researchers, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I attended a range of fascinating talks, including a PhD student’s research on colour therapy in twentieth-century Britain, a presentation on magic and medieval medicine, and another exploring the role of nature in hospital design (which even referenced HPL’s very own Giskin Day!).

When it came to presenting my own paper, I had 20 minutes to speak followed by 10 minutes of questions. Beforehand, I revisited my notes on the public speaking masterclass we had during our iBSc, which proved incredibly helpful. We don’t get many opportunities to practise formal public speaking during medical school, so it was nice to return to those foundations. The questions afterwards were enjoyable, and I loved discussing the project with people who shared similar interests. Looking back, I wish I’d been a little bolder in approaching people between sessions, but for my first conference in this kind of academic setting, I think I did a pretty good job.

Overall, it reminded me of how rewarding it can be to step outside the familiar world of medicine and reconnect with the Humanities. If you’ve completed, or will soon complete, a HPL project that you’re proud of, I’d recommend submitting an abstract to conferences like these; it was a novel and enjoyable experience.

 

Evan is a doctor currently working on the Acute Medical Unit in Bangor, North Wales, having graduated with honours from Hull York Medical School. During his intercalated degree at Imperial College London, he developed an appreciation for the broader context of medicine, focusing his research on the historical importance of the natural world in healthcare. Alongside medicine, Evan  can often be found canoeing with friends on the Norfolk Broads, where he grew up. His interests lie at the intersection of clinical practice and the humanities, particularly how our relationship with the natural world can shape our understanding of health and healthcare.