Alexa Miller and the Merging of Art and Science

<p>Today’s guest has one of the most interesting, thought-provoking, fascinating jobs we’ve ever heard of. </p><p>All our lives, we’ve thought of art and medicine as two completely different pillars – one encourages us to think subjectively while the other is more objective and rational. </p><p>But, artist-turned-medical educator Alexa Miller proved us so wrong. </p><p>And we’re glad she did!</p><p>Most of us are in the business of movement. We help people figure out their bodies, improve their health, and even diagnose some basic physical conditions. </p><p>And for us to do our jobs in the most effective way possible, Alexa’s unique way of combining art with medicine and diagnosis is game-changing. </p><p>Alexa got started on this path over two decades ago, when she went to London to attend art school. She had always been passionate about understanding the human body and researching human resilience and her yearning to learn more about it led her to the Wellcome Trust, an incredible reserve of medical history and images in London. </p><p>As she was studying the images, she was struck by how the medical text directed people to look at patients. </p><p>As an artist, she was always encouraged to interpret, ponder upon her thoughts, and dissect the different emotions she felt about the works she created and studied. </p><p>On the other hand, the medical text encouraged her to make quick decisions. She wasn’t allowed to mull over, dissect, or think critically about what she was seeing. </p><p>The experience was so jarring, that it prompted her to consider something she’d never thought about before: </p><p>Is it possible to improve medical observation and diagnostic skills through art?</p><p>And that question changed her life.</p><p>It led her to work with some of the most reputed medical schools and museums in the country; teaching medical learners how to transcend some of the dehumanizing aspects of the hospital culture and use the tools of artists and great diagnosticians to observe, listen to, and co-crea