Medicine and art came together on October 27 as IU School of Medicine students embraced their creative side, helping put the finishing touches on the Damien Center Mosaic Project in Indianapolis.
Second-year medical student Kian Naimi Shirazi, artist Joani Rothenberg, and her husband, Jeff Rothenberg, MD, MS, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, invited the IU medical students to participate in the final stages of the stunning three-story mosaic created by the community.
Over the past year, Joani collaborated with the city's various communities to bring the artistic vision to life. It will be the centerpiece to the Damien Center's HIV clinic location on the near east side of Indianapolis.
The Damien Center is the largest HIV/AIDS service organization in Indiana, assisting more than a quarter of all HIV-positive individuals in the state.
The students painted and assembled the last panel (of 280 total panels) making up the mosaic. The Rothenbergs used the opportunity to convey the importance of artistic and creative outlets for physicians.
"The project was used as a model that as physicians, we need to take care of ourselves first in order to take care of others," Jeff Rothenberg said. "It supported the student's mental health, which is important in a very stressful time of life for a young physician."
