PPE Portraits: UBC students use medical masks to foster connection in a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has limited our social connections, as we live with restrictions designed to keep each other safe. In BC’s hospitals and clinics, this lack of connection is felt by doctors and other healthcare workers, who have to don and doff comprehensive PPE on a constant basis. The protective gear can make it difficult for people to identify each other and form bonds, but a group of UBC medical students is making a major impact with the PPE Portraits project.

Originally the brainchild of Mary Beth Heffernan, who developed the idea working during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, the project is novel, yet simple. By adding a smiling portrait of the individual to their PPE, you can establish patient trust, reduce isolation, and improve team communications amongst doctors and other healthcare staff.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adamo Donovan, a PhD student at McGill University, was inspired to use his hospital-based volunteer program (ICU Bridge Program) to bring PPE Portraits to Montreal’s hospitals. He reached out to Jessica Wang, a past volunteer in the program and second-year medical student at UBC, to spearhead the initiative across the various cities in BC. 

Wang explained how students’ experience with PPE has affected their work and learning over the last year: “When interacting with patients, we’ve noticed that the masks hide our facial expressions and hamper our ability to emotionally connect with patients. Masks can also make it difficult for preceptors in a learning environment because students are less recognizable from each other.”

Adapting to BC’s geographical challenges 

The team of medical students behind the BC arm of PPE Portraits recognized they would have to do things differently to make it a success here. Unlike the other student teams based in Toronto and Montreal, they are the only team that is attempting to provide this service to cities throughout the entire province. The students were keen to ensure that doctors in the Interior, northern BC, and on the Island, all have the same access to the project. 

“BC and Vancouver’s geographical spread makes it slightly more challenging to service compared to our Eastern counterparts, Toronto and Montreal. We have had to rely heavily on Canada Post shipping to send portraits to hospitals in Kelowna, Prince George, Victoria, and Comox Valley. There are medical students at each of these locations who have generously volunteered their time to provide this service to doctors who work in these communities,” Wang said. In the Lower Mainland, the widespread scope of hospitals also presents a challenge, albeit one the group is equipped to meet. 

So far, the group have delivered more than 400 portraits to date, with major uptake from physicians and residents at Surrey Memorial Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital, and Cowichan District Valley Hospital. “As we aim to be interdisciplinary if possible, we’ve also provided PPE Portraits to nurses, pharmacists, and physiotherapists. Recently, we have been able to expand and service UBC Dentistry and UBCO Nursing students in addition to our own medical student colleagues,” Wang added. To help time-poor physicians, the group has even organized two photobooth sessions at Surrey Memorial Hospital, supplying them with smiling headshots. 

Making PPE Portraits possible

The project here in BC is funded through MUS Initiative Fund, which Doctors of BC contributes to annually, and the Surrey Memorial Hospital Medical Staff Association, supporting through the Facility Engagement fund. 

The funding is crucial to the projects success, says Wang: “It allows us to offer these portraits at no cost to physicians and medical students across the province. It’s important part of our project because we hope to provide portraits to doctors in cities across all of BC, and it’s only possible if we have funding for printing and shipping the portraits via Canada Post.”
 
Collaboration is at the heart of this project, from the students’ colleagues across the country, to within the local team. Wang was keen to thank Adamo Donovan from Montreal for providing inspiration and backend support, Dr Phillip Hui at Surrey Memorial for his mentorship, and Dr Lawrence Yang for his advocacy of our initiative, as well as the funders of the initiative. 

“The goal of PPE Portraits is to help patients and health workers connect with each other, despite the challenges we’re facing in the pandemic. We hope that the smiling portraits alleviate patients’ feelings of isolation and provide a platform for building trust between patient and provider.”

For many people, accessing healthcare is a vulnerable experience, and the fear and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to this tension. Wang and the team have received positive feedback from both staff and fellow students telling us that their patients thanked them for wearing their PPE portrait.

If you would like a PPE Portrait of your own, visit the online order form.