The Poetry of Medicine
Simultaneous loves of art and science propelled Isha Harshe to medical school, where she’s learned her two passions frequently intersect.
“In medical school you go through a lot of firsts,” said Isha Harshe, a member of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Class of 2026. “First time seeing a patient on my own, first time scrubbing into a case …”
But it was witnessing the delivery of a baby for the first time that made an especially strong impression on Harshe, who is also a poet and artist.
“I was in awe,” she said.
Mezmerized
More than a year later, as she began working on organizing Obliterants Magazine, the Miller School’s humanities and social sciences magazine, Harshe wondered how she could contribute her own work to the journal. Immediately, that delivery came to mind.
Soon she completed the poem, “Mesmerized,” which was published in the journal’s 2025 edition. “Mesmerized” chronicles childbirth, with all the heaving and pushing, the baby’s cry, welcoming hands and hovering fairy godmothers.
I was her once,
A head full of black hair
Mesmerizing
Everyone in the room.
The newborn’s head full of black hair felt personal to Harshe.
“When I was growing up my grandfather always said to me, ‘I was there when you were born. You had a beautiful head full of black hair.’ Watching my first delivery felt like I was seeing that moment through his eyes,” she said, “and I finally understood his emotional attachment to that memory of me.”
Art as a Component of Medicine
While Harshe sees herself more as a medical student who writes poems than a poet who’s in medical school, she believes that her creative life won’t be separate from her professional life. She has wanted to be a physician since she was a child.
“I can’t fully explain why, but there was always this spark in me that told me I needed to do this,” she said.
Art, she added, is a component of medicine, as Harshe’s work suggests.
“I think what makes medicine and our jobs as physicians unique,” she said, “is you learn to convey complex scientific topics in laymen’s terms and educate patients about what’s going on in their lives.”
Poets, as well as doctors, have to make abstract concepts understandable. And it’s not just the language they use but how they deliver the message.
“You need good analogies in explaining concepts to patients and simultaneously be able to pick up on and respond to their emotions,” said Harshe. “I’d say art is a component of medicine the way science is a component.”
Large Language Models and Medical Ethics
A poet’s love for pushing the boundaries of language and a scientist’s passion for discovery got Harshe wondering about the ways in which large language models can help people make important decisions. Recently, she assisted with research and co-authored a paper by Gauri Agarwal, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine and associate dean for curriculum at the Miller School, who is looking at the use of AI in medical ethics decision making.
Harshe can’t say which came first: her commitment to science or her love of art.
“They occurred simultaneously to me,” she said, noting that she has always been captivated by the human body. “If I had a cut, it fascinated me how my body would heal. And, when I was a kid, I’d make greeting cards by hand and I loved storytelling.”
With a background in research, a strong creative drive and a mesmerizing experience observing a birth, it should come as no surprise that Harshe is considering applying for an OB/GYN residency.
“It’s part of my story now,” she said.
Tags: Department of Medical Education, Dr. Gauri Agarwal, medical education, medical students