Meet the Innovator: Javier de la Maza and Ars Medica
Javier, Taj, Mari, and Jianyi are Ars Medica and are part of the Social Innovation Lab’s 2018–19 Cohort. We caught up with Javier to learn more about how Ars Medica came together. To learn more about SIL and the cohort, click here. To see them at our Impact+Innovation Forum on April 30, register here!
SIL: Tell us about Ars Medica. What are you trying to do?
JdlM: Ars Medica is a space where doctors and medical students can share their stories and support each other in their journey towards a more humane and compassionate medicine. We host an online platform where members from our community can connect in a safe environment and learn from each other’s experience.
SIL: Why did you decide to start this? Where did the idea come from?
JdlM: Ars Medica draws from my own experience as a medical student and my struggle to fit in a culture that was teaching me how to dissect the human body without giving me the tools to put the pieces back together and to look at the patient as a whole. By the end of my third year, I was so burned out that I thought about dropping out. Fortunately, I received the support I needed and realized that I could use my passion for storytelling to make sense of my experience.
I decided to start this project because I believe medicine is about the human connection and we need to start changing the culture by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in order to be there for our patients.
SIL: What would you consider success for your project and how would the world be different if your project is successful?
JdlM: Our success is measured by the amount of doctors and medical students that we reach and their level of engagement. If we can build a self-sustaining community that nurtures compassion in medicine, I would consider the project successful.
SIL: What have you accomplished so far?
JdlM: Ars Medica was awarded $20,000 in seed funding as one of the winning projects for the 2018 Idea Lab Ten by Twenty Challenge. We have impressed experts across the field with our passion, vision and capability and have successfully invited some of them to join our advisory board. We also partnered with a student group at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to organize our first events.
SIL: Tell us about your experience with SIL.
JdlM: Being in SIL has been an amazing experience and has allowed me to believe in myself as a social entrepreneur. I’ve learned new skills that will serve me well in the future and met inspiring people who are doing amazing things to make the world a better place.
SIL: Tell us about yourself? What got you interested in this issue? Any work experience or past professional/life experience that informs your work now?
JdlM: I’m a physician originally from Chile and I recently earned my Masters in Health Education and Health Communication at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. I’m interested in doctor-patient interactions and in the future I would like to design solutions to improve the communication skills of clinicians.
SIL: What’s your favorite place or thing to do in Baltimore?
JdlM: I love to hang out in the Patterson Park with my wife and my two kids.
SIL: What advice do you have for would-be social entrepreneurs or other students thinking about starting a venture?
JdlM: Find a group of friends who believe in you, work together to create a shared vision, and don’t be afraid to bring your own identity into the work you do.
SIL: How can we get involved?
JdlM: We are looking for champions and partners to help us grow our community. We will launch our official website and social media on April 30th, so in the meantime people who are interested in this project can contact me directly at jdelamaza[at]jhu.edu.
Join Javier and Ars Medica at SIL’s annual Impact+Innovation Forum on April 30th, 2019! Details available at this link.
