Hollins Professor Infuses Medicine with Art at Virginia Tech Carilion Mini Medical

Hollins Professor Infuses Medicine with Art at Virginia Tech Carilion Mini Medical

Community Outreach, Fine Arts, Special Events

October 24, 2014

Hollins Professor Infuses Medicine with Art at Virginia Tech Carilion Mini Medical Carilion

Jennifer Anderson, an assistant professor of art at Hollins University, is lending her expertise to a community outreach initiative sponsored by the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine: the institution’s first mini medical school.

The four-part event, “Anatomy for Artists and Other Curious Sorts,” is part of a series designed to engage area residents with the medical school by providing educational offerings “with a slight twist,” said Dr. David Trinkle, the school’s associate dean of community and culture and a Carilion Clinic physician, in a news release. “We won’t be tackling standard health topics in a standard way. With this first one, for example, we’ll be adding an artistic component. Participants who want to translate what they’re learning into art will be able to do so.

“The only prerequisites are a curious mind and a willing spirit.”

Anderson is the sole art professor taking part in the inaugural mini medical school and the only presenter not affiliated with the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute. She will discuss “The Human Form Through the History of Art” at the event’s second program on Tuesday, March 25. Artists from Hollins are participating in all four interactive sessions to provide mentorship in drawing.

“We want everyone to know we’re more than an isolated, self-contained school teaching future doctors,” Trinkle said. “We’re also here to serve this community.”