True Cut: Biopsies from the hidden heart of healthcare
Making and living with mistakes is a core part of what it means to be human. But in medical practice, the impact of failure can be life changing, life-long, and life-shortening—for everyone involved.
And we just don’t talk about it. In the papers, on TV, on social, there are really only two stories about doctors. There’s the Hero’s Journey of unflagging compassion and selfless dedication in the face of overwhelming odds, of miracle cures wrought from challenge and graft. And then there are the evil villains for us to boo at and hiss: incompetent charlatans who should be named, shamed and punished to protect the innocent.
This workshop draws on the power of drama, poetry and visual art to open up a supportive space for more nuanced conversations, exploring how we can respond with compassion—for each other and for ourselves—when the unthinkable happens.
David Alderson is a surgeon, educator and writer based in Devon. While conducting research interviews for a masters degree, he became painfully aware of the continuing, damaging impact of mistakes on surgeons and the absence of any meaningful dialogue in professional or public spheres — and critically between the two. To address this gap, he wrote the play True Cut using verbatim quotes from surgeons, their colleagues and patients. Following performances in London, Swansea, Plymouth, Edinburgh and Amsterdam, this now forms the heart of a series of workshops. His novel Cutting explores these themes in more depth. Through poetry, he aims to unravel his own experiences: www.incisedlines.com