Recommended for: all attendees
Technology and scientific advancement are essential to the future of medicine. They can improve accuracy, reduce administrative burden and increase efficiency.
But is efficiency alone enough?
At its heart, medicine is a deeply human practice shaped by the people at its centre: the patient, who brings an illness within the context of a life, and the physician, who must listen, interpret, connect and care.
Yet many of these essential capacities receive little formal attention during medical training. Skills such as close observation, self-reflection, recognizing bias and perspective, navigating ambiguity and cultivating compassionate intelligence are often assumed rather than intentionally taught.
In this keynote, Dr. Nandini Gupta explores how art and art analysis can help develop these foundational competencies. Drawing on the evidence behind arts-based medical education, she will introduce Art in Medicine’s practical frameworks, share how they are being integrated into medical school and residency training, and demonstrate how learning through art can influence the way physicians observe, make decisions, connect with patients and care for themselves.
As medicine becomes increasingly driven by technology, the arts offer a structured and evidence-informed approach to strengthening the human capabilities that exceptional care depends on now more than ever.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe the evidence supporting art analysis as a tool for strengthening observation skills and compassionate intelligence.
- Explain how arts-based learning can be translated into practical approaches for medical education and clinical practice.
- Identify ways engagement with art can influence patient care, clinical decision-making and physicians’ connection to meaning and purpose in their work.
Speaker:
- Nandini Gupta, MD, Cardiologist, Mackenzie Health, Assistant Clinical Professor, TMU, Founder & CEO, Art in Medicine (AiM)
Presenter Bios:
Nandini Gupta, MD
Dr. Nandini Gupta is an advanced heart failure cardiologist whose career reflects a unique integration of clinical excellence and a lifelong passion for the arts. She completed her medical degree and cardiology training at McMaster University, her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a fellowship in Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation at the University Health Network. She currently practises at Mackenzie Health Richmond Hill Hospital and Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, while also caring for patients through independent clinics in Toronto.
Inspired by her father, a cardiologist, Dr. Gupta pursued medicine from an early age while embracing the arts as an essential part of her life. Encouraged by her mother’s belief that art and science complement one another, she trained in singing, Bharatanatyam and Bollywood dance, and piano. Her dance team, Broken Dance, was a finalist in the inaugural season of Canada’s Got Talent, reflecting her longstanding commitment to artistic expression.
Although the demands of medical training and practice left less time for creative pursuits, Dr. Gupta remained committed to exploring the connection between the humanities and healthcare. She completed a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, an interdisciplinary field that integrates literature, the arts, and clinical practice to deepen patient care. She has also completed a course in Italian Renaissance Art through the University of Oxford.
Driven by her belief that art and medicine are fundamentally interconnected, Dr. Gupta founded the non-profit organisation Art in Medicine (AiM). Through AiM, she has lead over 20 intimate programs and has hosted an international symposium in Florence in May 2025, where physicians gathered from across the world to learn about the integration of the humanities and arts into medical education and clinical practice, promoting creativity, reflection, and compassion as essential elements of exceptional healthcare.