Letter from the Editors
IRIS is UNC School of Medicine’s Arts and Literary Journal. Submissions from students, faculty, and staff include works of photography, writing, music, video and other forms of creative expression
Letter from the Editors
Welcome to Iris, the medical humanities journal of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine!
As medical and health humanities students, we understand the importance of crafting a space in which the intersections of medicine and humanities may be explored. We consider the importance of providing an outlet in which the demands of our studies and our lived experiences may be expressed creatively, where we can give voice through poetry, prose, painting, and photography to the pains, joys, sorrows, and epiphanies we feel, or to the inequalities and uncertainties we may witness.
Through Iris, we hope to foster a discourse that prepares us for the complexity of the practice of medicine and the pursuit of health in all of its dimensions. That is why Iris is dedicated to the act of interpretation, to understanding what it means to care for others and ourselves beyond diagnostic capacities or scientific expertise.
The name Iris echoes the iris of the eye, a feature of the body unique to every person. The iris also provides the frame through which we see the world—a point of view. Each iris is unique. The prose, poetry, painting, and photography contained within Iris represent the perspectives of diverse students who have come to UNC by different paths and will continue along different paths when we leave. The journey we share together through our professional training is a precious time devoted to the exchange of ideas and the co-creation of knowledge, as well as a deeper commitment to understanding the human condition and lessening the suffering of others.
We hope that you will enjoy the creative work contained in this journal and that you will find your own perspectives enriched.
Cambray Smith and Mindy Buchanan-King
IRIS Editors-in-Chief
2024-2025