Creativity in Medicine

1165 Words3 Pages

When the topic of creativity comes up, for most people, the conversation would normally involve art or music. But when I think of creativity, I think of the incredible world of medicine. In this research paper, I argue that creativity isn't just limited to the world of art and literature, but rather it is extremely important even in the medical field. Many advancements have been made in the medical field due to an individual’s discovery or innovative idea. I want to bring awareness to the importance of creativity in the medical field and how it plays a crucial role in the future of medicine. Innovations like the MRI or Gleevec, and the events leading up to the complete eradication of Smallpox, are just a handful of some of the most incredible life-saving medical breakthroughs in modern history. In the world of medicine, peoples creativity has and continues to save thousands of lives everyday, all, one creative idea at a time.
When I began my research, I figured, what better way to start digging in than to hear what a professional has to say. So I contacted Dr. Diana Port, Pharm.D., a Pharmacist in Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey. I asked her to tell me the first thing that came to her mind when I told her the following two words: ‘Creativity’ and ‘Medicine’. Barely finishing my sentence, she answered me with one, Gleevec. She explained to me that in 2001, the FDA approved of a cancer-fighting drug, which would later be called Gleevec for the treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). When the drug first came out, people were literally calling it names like “The Silver Bullet” or “The Miracle Drug” because of how amazing it was (Pray).
It all began when Dr. Brian J. Druker, a physician-scientist at the Oregon He...

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... incredible ideas, who knows, you might not even be around to read this paper. The statistics speak for themselves, these creations have and continue to save literally millions of lives every year. Besides for saving lives, we can only imagine how the world would be without some of these incredible contributions.

Works Cited

Pray, Leslie A., Ph.d. “Gleevec: The Breakthrough in Cancer Treatment.” Nature.com.

Nature Publishing Group, 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

Zompi, Simona. “How we Conquered the Deadly Smallpox Virus.” TED. Oct. 2013.

Lecture. 10 Nov. 2013.

Brown, Theodore L., et al. “Chemistry: The Central Science.” 12th Ed. Pearson Prentice
Hall. 2012. Print. 10 Nov. 2013.

"magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia

Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web.

10 Nov. 2013.

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