san francisco — Discipline, creativity, and a steady hand – all traits an artist must possess.
According to Dr. Don Hirschman, they are qualities a surgeon must possess. He seems to know that, because he’s both.
“I’ve always said that there’s a part of my brain that works at a certain point in the painting and in the surgery,” Hirschman said. “I mean, a blank canvas is scary. When you start surgery, it’s the beginning of an adventure. It’s a creative energy that a lot of people don’t have experience talking about, because surgeons are surgeons and artists are artists. There’s not a lot of people who do both.”
As a board-certified surgeon and acclaimed artist based in San Francisco, his artwork and paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. Different series of paintings depict several themes. Code switching is a topic that has been presented in some recent work. Photography is about the practice of changing language, tone and behavior to adapt to different social contexts.
“People adjust their language to suit them,” Hirschman said. “I can only speak to my experience as a gay man going to medical school and having to code switch. In the past, being gay was completely unacceptable and you couldn’t get your surgical training if you were out. I didn’t feel like a victim of that, because that’s the way it was for thieves.”
Hirschman continues to thrive in both professions, and says they complement each other in practice.
“It doesn’t matter whether a patient is a privileged patient or someone who is poor or discriminated against or marginalized. When they’re in that chair, they’re just a patient. Everyone is equal. Everything just flattens out. It gives you a holistic view of the world that way.”
Healthcare is its privilege, and it makes you more human. “As an artist, it makes me a better artist,” Hirschman said.
He learns more here.