At Landmark Conference, Arts in Medicine Advocate Amplify Creative Partnerships

Yinka Olatunbosun

A global leader in arts in medicine, Kunle Adewale has urged professionals in arts and medicine to seek ways of collaborating towards promoting global wellness.

He made this call at a landmark Medical Education conference organised by the Association of Medical Schools in Africa (AMSA), in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region in Lagos from March 26 to 29.

The conference, supported by World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), FAIMER/Intealth, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the Federal Ministries of Education and Health and Social Welfare.

In his presentation titled, “Arts in Medicine: Creative Health for African Medical Educators and Healthcare Professionals,” he challenged long‑held assumptions about medical training and offered a bold, culturally grounded vision for the future of healthcare in Africa.

Adewale opened with a striking visual metaphor: a collection of squashed, discarded cans. To many in the audience, they appeared to be simple waste. But for Adewale, they symbolised the current state of many African healthcare systems—overburdened, under‑resourced, and flattened by pressure. “These cans once held something essential,” he told the audience. “They have been squeezed, mishandled, overlooked. Yet they remain strong, recyclable, full of potential. Our healthcare systems and the people within them are no different.”

The metaphor resonated deeply with medical professionals who face daily realities of burnout, limited infrastructure, and overwhelming patient loads. Adewale’s message was clear: the system may be under strain, but it is not beyond transformation.

Drawing from his own lived experience, Adewale revealed how the arts became a lifeline during periods of trauma, loss, and displacement. His personal story, marked by adversity, resilience, and healing, formed the foundation of GAIMF, now one of the world’s most influential arts‑in‑health training programmes. “Art transformed me inward before I could transform the world outward,” he said, as he highlighted GAIMF’s extensive impact across Nigeria and the world.

Since its founding in 2017/2018, the Fellowship has trained over 1,000 participants from more than 60 countries, Delivered 5,000+ hours of creative health programming, Led hospital transformations in paediatric oncology, mental health wards, and sickle cell units, Supported children with cancer, individuals with chronic illness, refugees, seniors with dementia, and displaced families among others.

Dr. Adewale showcased powerful before‑and‑after images of hospital wards transformed through murals, colour, storytelling, music, and participatory artmaking. “Artists don’t repair the can,” he said. “They reveal its value.” In the same way, he argued, creative health reveals humanity, dignity, and resilience within healthcare systems.

Speaking directly to medical educators and students, Adewale urged them to embrace creativity as part of their professional identity. “You are not just future clinicians,” he said. “You are healers. And healing requires imagination, empathy, and cultural wisdom.” He encouraged medical institutions in Africa to integrate creative health into medical curricula, citing its proven benefits for mental health, patient experience, communication, and professional resilience.

Participants in his session engaged in a creative health ideation exercise to propose solutions to healthcare challenges in Africa, culminating in the development of two interdisciplinary arts‑in‑health projects.

Dr. Adewale concluded: “African institutions can reimagine healthcare delivery by investing in creative health programming that cultivates versatile, competent practitioners and future health leaders. Through interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and cross‑sector collaboration, we can strengthen the very fabric of our social care systems.”

The AMSA Medical Education Conference became a defining moment for the continent’s future healthcare workforce.

AMSA Conference 2026 is led by Professor Temidayo Ogundiran, President of AMSA; Professor Emiola Oluwabumni Olaopa, LOC Chair; Professor Olufemi Fasanmade, Co‑Chair, University of Lagos; and Dr. Abimbola Abolarinwa, Co‑Chair, Lagos State University.

Founded in 1961 at the University of Ibadan and formally inaugurated in Kampala in 1963, the Association of Medical Schools in Africa remains the continent’s leading voice in medical education. Revitalised through partnerships with WHO and the African Union, AMSA continues to drive collaborations that address Africa’s evolving health challenges.