When medical students at OUWB need a break from their studies, many are turning to art through a school program that recently celebrated its five-year anniversary.
It’s called Art as Therapy — a support group that offers students space to decompress and spend time on something non-medical.
The program was created by Janae Kinn, LMSW, OUWB Mental Health Counselor, at the beginning of 2020, to originally promote connection amongst students during the pandemic.
And what started as a virtual group of 15-20 students, has blossomed into an in-person weekly program for students like M2 Diarratou Kaba that is still successful and beneficial.
“I’m grateful to have an opportunity like this to decompress,” said Kaba. “Janae does an amazing job choosing the activities, facilitating and creating an environment that allows us all to feel relaxed and comfortable. And it’s also nice to see my peers in a different element.”
The program is straightforward: Every session, participants focus on a different project for students to engage in. Past activities have included vision boards, painting, and watercolor.
Kinn said the primary benefit is offering students a stress-relieving space to engage in art-based activities. While the program is not an accredited therapy group, she said, it provides many benefits for students to take part in creative activities independently and with others.
Such benefits for the participating medical students include a way to connect with their emotions without having to directly verbalize their feelings. Kinn said this helps participants relieve stress, feel calm, and tap into emotions of which they may otherwise have been unaware.
Kinn said other benefits include:
● A reduction in cortisol levels, a stress hormone.
● A break from screens.
● The ability to tap into the creative side of the brain.
● Engaging in a rhythmic motion, such as painting, which gives parts of the brain a break.
There’s also the chance to connect with others.
“Depending on what people are painting or working on, it will open up conversations about where a person might be from or what they’re missing from home…and for the mood boards or the vision boards people will add pictures of people doing yoga, or hiking in these beautiful places, and that generates other conversations,” said Kinn.
For Kaba, and many other students, the program was particularly valuable during the busy times of the school year.
“It was especially helpful towards the end of the semester, when burnout was starting to set in,” Kaba said. “It forced me to take a healthy break from studying.”
Kaba also noted that the program helped her get back into her creative side.
“I've always enjoyed creative activities and with the whirlwind that is med school, unfortunately, it is easy to put those kinds of things on the back burner,” Kaba said. “But this experience inspired me to tap back into my creative side and be intentional about making time for art, despite being busy.”
Audrey Lam, M3, has been part of the program for the past two years and found passion within creating art.
“I just assumed I wasn’t good at art, so I didn’t enjoy it,” said Lam. “But I realized, it’s something I really enjoy.”
After joining the program, Lam was also inspired to create art in her free time.
“I bought small canvases and just started painting,” Lam said. “It's an activity I enjoy, and it made me realize that I like artsy stuff. I also joined a pottery class. Art as Therapy helped me learn about myself.”
Lam also noted OUWB’s support of the program.
“I was impressed,” Lam said. “The program was very generous in its supplies. Art supplies aren’t the most accessible or affordable. [I hope] OUWB continues to invest in projects like this for students.”
Both Lam and Kaba recommend this program to other students.
“I highly recommend it, even if you are not super artistically inclined! It's always fun to see how your pieces turn out but also hang out with your peers,” Kaba said. “We also had some really good conversations that we may not have had the opportunity to have otherwise.”
To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.
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