SPORTS
Pharm Students Take on a Tough Mudder
TABULA
IN THIS ISSUE
The Literary Arts Issue News Briefs » PAGE 3 Tap into the power of Journal Club » PAGE 5 literature to change our world Puzzles » PAGE 11 » PAGE 6
Synapse
People actually do this for fun? » PAGE 3
The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, April 24, 2014
synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 28
TABULA
The Literary Arts Issue
“I
t is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there,” wrote the iconic physician-poet William Carlos Williams. Williams points out in these lines an intangible power of literature—of all art—to change our world. Through artistic expression, we can appeal to emotions, arrive at harder truths, and importantly, we can plant the seeds for change, both within our individual selves and society as a whole. Indeed, reading literary fiction may significantly improve readers’ empathy, as determined by two separate studies in 2013, one from the Netherlands and another from the New School. The researchers divided study participants into several groups and asked to read a passage of literary fiction, commercial fiction, non-fiction or nothing. Afterwards, they asked the participants
to complete several tests to determine their ability to recognize and respond to other people’s emotions. The group that read literary fiction before taking the tests consistently did better. Here at UCSF, we can harness this power of the literary arts to improve our experience as (future) health professionals and as well-rounded human beings. More importantly, we can use these lessons to improve the experiences of the people around us and bridge the gap between providers and patients. For inspiration (and as an appropriate end to National Poetry Month), we present this year’s Tabula, the annual arts issue of Synapse. Patients reflect on their harrowing experiences with illness. Medical students write about and help restore the humanity of patients who have fallen through the cracks. These pages contain a wealth of such poems, stories, essays and photos by talented members of the UCSF community. Happy empathizing. For more, turn to Page 6. Jenny Qi Executive Editor
Photo by Sarah Paris/ UCSF staff