Getting Creative: Pathology as Art
Every year, Pathology Captures by The Pathologist showcases art related to pathology (#pathart). As an art enthusiast, I came across this opportunity to submit to Pathology Captures on the Instagram page of a talented artist and pathology resident, Dr. Meredith Herman (@whitecoatartistry). Art submissions can be in a variety of mediums: paintings, drawings, agar art, slide images, digital art, poems, sculpture, mixed media, and more. (If you want to submit next year, keep a lookout in December for their call for art!)
Watercolor is a medium that I started exploring this year, so I decided to try my hand at a pathology-themed painting in this year's topic of "Food Safety".
My two pieces, "Pathogens Mosaic" and "Pathogen Quartet", both focus on common food-borne pathogens in a colorful way. Specifically, "Pathogen Quartet" features the four leading causes of food-borne deaths, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada: Listeria monocytogenes, Norovirus, non-typhoidal Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157. I'm honoured to be included among the artists featured in Pathology Captures and I encourage you to peruse the art on their gallery site.
Pathogens Mosaic
Pathogens Mosaic by Lynne Altow, Medical Student, University of British Columbia, Canada. This watercolour piece displays common food-borne pathogens in gram-stain and electron micrograph form across washes of pinks, purples, and blues.
Pathogen Quartet
Pathogen Quartet by Lynne Altow, Medical Student, University of British Columbia, Canada. This watercolour piece highlights the four leading causes of food-borne deaths in Canada: Listeria monocytogenes, norovirus, non-typhoidal Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli O157 (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2016).
Other histology-themed art Lynne has explored includes blood cells, cardiac muscle, respiratory epithelium, and more to come!
Lynne has also been involved with pathology from the lens of education as part of her UBC FLEX project. Working with a team under Dr. Diana Ionescu, she is investigating student perceptions of histopathology education and pathology careers, as well as developing resources to enhance the UBC histopathology curriculum. She has taken a personal interest in gamification, developing a Pictionary-style game implemented for year 1 and 2 histology lab sessions.
I hope you enjoyed the art, and maybe got inspired to do something creative too!