The Foundation

“Promoting the global movement of “S.T.E.M. to S.T.E.A.M.” transformation and introduce the Absolute Relative Thought (ART) in medical science.”

Medical Art And Humanities Foundation of India or MAAHFI is India’s pioneering social organisation dedicated to explore the novel treasures of medicine & healthcare integral to medical humanities through visuals and storytelling (narratives).

Stories are the final product of visual input (observation) & narrative (listen, acknowledge, absorb, interpret and act). Both of these are foundations of medical practice and imperative in doctor-patient communication. Indian healthcare sector had always had a vaccum in the field of visual communication in medicine. This can be addressed by scientific and aesthetic application of visuals & narratives for documenting medicine – from therapeutic procedures to public health. We @MAAHFI are in a quest to address the need and establish this art of communication in medicine, with the aid of VISUAL NARRATIVE MEDICINE (VNM).

“Visual narrative medicine” is a genre of  digital storytelling (typically between 2-5 minutes) combining clinical &/ non-clinical photographs, video clips and audio (voice &/ ambient sound) that reveal the stories of medicine & healthcare in a new light.

Amalgamating the age-old tradition of storytelling and the new-age digital (imaging) technology, MAAHFI offers new vistas for documenting medicine for both the public and private healthcare sectors in India, as well as other social organisations working in healthcare. Engaging doctors, care-givers, patients and social workers, MAAHFI functions as a social initiative to radically transform the way we see, record and treat illnesses.

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Mission: A social initiative that inspires and fulfils the scientific and creative need for documenting medicine through visuals and narratives for better patient care, improving patient-doctor communication and also to redress public health issues.

Vision: Changing the way we see, record and treat the illnesses by developing visual and narrative competency among healthcare professionals to rekindle the creative passion in medicine & healthcare.

 

What do we do?

MAJOR OBJECTIVES:

@MAAHFI, we are exploring contemporary connections between humanistic study & the healing arts and the synergy & extrapolation of visual and verbal input.

  • Objective one – the collaboration: to support to doctors, healthcare service providers and social organisations for scientific & aesthetic documentation of illnesses and therapeutic procedures with the aid of visual narrative medicine for better patient care, patient education and mass communication.
  • Objective two – the programme & workshops: to improve clinical practice by introducing visual narrative medicine as an educational programme in medicine to rekindle observation and narrative competencies in medicine & healthcare, thus empowering & engaging medical students, doctors, care-givers and social workers in process of creative imagination for better patient care and doctor-patient communication to deliver efficient and ethical healthcare.

 

MODUS OPERANDI:

“We @MAAHFI believe that the use of Visual Narrative Medicine as a recording tool and educational methodology widens the scope of medical humanities for welfare of all those involved in healthcare : patient, doctors, medical educators, care-givers and social workers.”

  • We provide consultancy and support to the doctors, healthcare service providers and social organisations about the use and integration of visual narrative medicine within healthcare programmes for patient care, patient education and more efficient implementation & success of medical therapeutics and ethical intent.
  • We conduct interactive workshops that enable medical students, doctors, care-givers and social workers to initiate develop visual narrative medicine and producing & distributing the digital stories among themselves to improve their professional competency.
  • We facilitate research into the use and application of visual narrative medicine as an educational tool in medical education.
  • We develop and identify resources that support the use of visual narrative medicine in healthcare, social development and welfare.

Who are we: a new kid in the block

The background:

Visual narrative medicine is the brainchild of Dr. Kaushik Ghosh (GIS ARPS): a product of his creative and scientific involvement and research in photographic application of visuals in the field of medical education, clinical practice and medical humanities.

Kaushik envisions to apply his knowledge & expertise in photography & visual narrative to design & develop the concept, philosophy and programme of visual narrative medicine to attempt to radically transform the way Indian healthcare sees, records & treats illnesses. To implement the programme and to promote the concept of visual narrative medicine for medical welfare, Kaushik founded MAAHFI in association with his senior & namesake, Dr. Kausik Ghosh, an orthopedic surgeon, photographer, actor and public speaker of repute.

As a social organisation, MAAHFI endeavours to provides a common platform for medical and non-medical professionals with a common interest in application of arts and humanities in medicine for better patient care, medical education and visual communication in medicine.

MAAHFI is an integral and vital appendage of the Association For Integral Development (AFID Inc.), a non-profit organisation under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India specialising in integral development across a spectrum of sectors.

Foundation team: the namesakes

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Dr. Kaushik Ghosh (Founder-Director) is an Indian Medical Artist and Imaging Scientist specialised in Medical Photography, Medical Cinematography, and Visual Narrative. Kaushik is the first Indian recipient of Graduate Imaging Scientist (GIS) qualification and Associate (ARPS) distinction from The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (RPS) and also the first Indian representative in the prestigious Committee of Medical Group of RPS. He is the pioneer in designing, developing & establishing Asia’s first Science Graduate programme in Medical & Scientific Photography at Post Graduate institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh.

Website & portfolio: www.kaushikghosh.net

 

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Dr. Kausik Ghosh (Founder-member) is an orthopaedic surgeon based in Kolkata. An alumnus of Don Bosco School, Park Circus and Calcutta National Medical College, he is also a regular public speaker in the city circuit for the last 35 years and was the secretary of the erstwhile Calcutta Debating Society. He is an actor who has performed in over 40 Bengali and 3 Hindi feature films & several tele-films and advertisement campaigns. A professional photographer, he has had 8 exhibitions in the city and has published six photography books till date. He has also published his annal of poetry from Oxford University Press.

E-mail: kausik_mg@yahoo.co.in | phaedrus281065@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Experience Visual Narrative Medicine

VNM in Surgery:

 VNM in Public Health: