Medical Humanities and Arts

Project Hx is a collection of narratives and photographs with a goal to highlight the rich diversity of the medical community. It is a portraiture of people’s stories and backgrounds, their experiences and adventures in healthcare, and ultimately a way to show a human side behind the oftentimes faceless nature of medicine. The people interviewed only portray a fraction of the unique attitudes and ideologies that represent the medical community, but we hope that it can serve as kindling for continued conversation. While reading the stories, please keep in mind that narratives are powerful only when they are genuine. They can be genuine only under the climate of acceptance and open-mindedness. Thus, we hope that each story is received free of judgment and prejudice.

Of course, health involves prescriptions and understanding of the biochemistry of the body, but it also It involves emotional and cognitive perspectives, an understanding of cultural identity, and much more. In order to achieve optimal health care, we cannot ignore the benefit that comes from opening our doors and our minds to the story of others - the undocumented, refugees, people of color, differently abled, the LGBT+ community, the list goes on. Minority experiences quite literally color the fabric of U.S. history, and we hope that the 3rd publication of Project Hx will shed light on more personal perspectives of minorities in medicine.

Sincerely,

Project Hx Team

UC Irvine School of Medicine

Editor-In-Chief: Thalia Nguyen;  Design Editors: Patrick Penalosa, Diane Rhee; Photography by Julia Tran

This work would not have been possible without the advice and guidance from Dr. Johanna Shapiro, Dr. Ellena Peterson, Dr. Tan Nguyen and funding from UCI AMSG and UCISOM Office of Admissions.