Spotlight

#empathy
#DisabledPhD
#rural
#staff

Why is access to health and increasing a belonging environment important to you?
Access to health is critical to me - 90% of my extended family live in rural areas. I have spent my 30 year career bringing access to medical education and professional arts experiences to rural areas. As a Nebraska native, 70% of the population live in rural communities and the need is so great for all types of resources. Belonging is so critical to health, especially mental health. So many of us are "othered" as we don't fit the (literally) prescribed box. Contemporary medicine doesn't educate much on empathy or even ethics, and we don't help clinicians build their empathy muscle, in particular by helping them build empathy outside the clinic, which helps bring it back to patients. I would love to see empathy as a subject taught in medical school and as required continuing medical education. It would really make a difference in the quality of care and increasing belonging in patients and in clinic inter-personal relationships.

What is an informative, quirky, or fun fact about yourself?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote and performed a one-woman play about Typhoid Mary and the ethics of isolation and quarantine. I toured the production for 5 years, primarily performing for medical audiences.

If people have questions or would like to collaborate with you, how would you like for them to contact you to learn more about your work?
I would encourage anyone to check out my LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-watkins-46906495 it features my publications, artwork, and video commentary on my doctoral work on the 1918 influenza pandemic in rural Nebraska. My email is [email protected] and I encourage anyone who is interesting in collaborating to reach out. I would love to connect with others who find empathy key in clinical care or are interested in the intersection of arts and medicine.