Literature
Many of Scotland’s greatest writers have explored aspects of medicine and health in their work, ranging from the effects of mind-altering drugs in Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ to the forensic brilliance of Conan Doyle’s 'Sherlock Holmes' or Ian Rankin’s 'Inspector Rebus' novels.
Art
Art and medicine have a long, intertwined history. For centuries, artists have studied anatomy in order to better understand and represent the human form. Leonardo da Vinci would often work through the night in order to draw as much as possible before a cadaver rotted away.
Poetry
One of the most expressive arts, poetry can explore the more mysterious aspects of life, including the illness, recovery and death of the human body. Find out more about poetry in Scotland, and the connections to medicine and health.
Television
Television is undeniably the most popular aspect of our cultural life in Britain, and programmes featuring doctors and hospitals are probably the most popular to be found on television screens! From ‘Dr Finlay’s Casebook’ in the early 1960s up to the anarchic humour of ‘Scrubs’ in 2005, medicine has provided a rich vein for television drama.
Film
Many films have explored the darker side of medicine and health. From the 1931 horror film ‘Frankenstein’ to the iconic M*A*S*H in 1970, and beyond, cinema goers have enjoyed being scared, fascinated and entertained by the medical drama of life and death and everything in between.