Christine Borland

Simulated Patient, 2004

Three monitors, three shelves, texts, three DVDs
Dimesions variable
Edition of 3
Exhibited Lisson Gallery, London, Simulated Patient, 2004

The installation Simulated Patient is based on role-play situations where medical students, through role-play with actors, practice dealing with a range of difficult scenarios. In this case all of these involve breaking bad news to patients. The presentation of this work deflects the viewer's voyeurism by concentrating on the 'use of silence' in the consultations. The viewer finds her/himself empathising with difficult position of the doctor as well as the tragic circumstances of the patient. Experiencing each unfolding scenario under these controlled circumstances, allows us the opportunity to confront our own worst case scenarios.

Expanded Description

Studying communication has become a key element in the education of medical students who have recently begun to be taught about body language, paralinguistics and the power of silence, in tandem with their traditional curriculum. In an effort to advance understanding of their patients, young doctors are asked to participate in games and role-play situations which aim to help them deal more effectively and compassionately with the public. In role-play situations medical students practice dealing with a range of difficult scenarios, many of which involve breaking bad news to patients. These 'patients', played by professional actors, undergo consultations which take place in small 'surgeries' filmed on closed circuit TV and relayed to a classroom next door. Of course, the whole set up is a ready-made installation, an intriguing crossover of performance art and medical education.

Simulated Patient restages 3 'Breaking bad news consultations' using 6 different students and one actress in a 'surgery' set up. The piece attempts to explore further the 'use of silence' which is taught to the medical students. 2 screens in the installation are always still the student doctor is waiting for their next appointment. The active screen is black during the consultation and the picture only appears during silences in the conversation between the doctor and the patient, usually in moments of extreme tension. The action ends with the patient leaving the room and moves around to a new consultation on the next screen.

Workshops with Medical Students & Fine Art Students

Working with the medical students and considering the aspects of their education from the perspective of my own work as a visual artist, led to a growing interest in Medical Humanities As a relatively new discipline, Medical Humanities (which encompasses history, literature, visual art, philosophy, ethics, theology, sociology, anthropology and some aspects of law) is in the process of being integrated into many medical curricula across the country. By introducing experiences in literature, drama and the visual arts the aim is to produce doctors with a broader outlook and frame of reference than can be developed within the stereotypical mid 20th C medical curriculum At the moment most research in the field establishes the benefits of the Humanities in Medicine from a medical viewpoint with consideration of patients, doctors and medical practitioners foremost. I have recently been awarded a 3 Year Nesta Fellowship to view the dialogue from an artist's perspective, developing new knowledge in respect to the role of the artist, visual art and its' audience within Medical Humanities. Collaborating partners are Glasgow Medical Humanities Unit and Glasgow School of Art.

Link to Nesta Award Profile.

The images refer to workshops held with 3rd Year Medical Students and Fine Art Students from Glasgow School of Art in relation to research for the above.

Download Essay
Attending moments passed: Christine Borland's Conservatory Geraldine Barlow, Broadsheet Volume 33 No 1, Published by the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia as a PDF.