Interview with: Dr. Milena Forte
Learn more about Dr. Forte & her debut anthology: Full Circle, A Collection of Family Medicine Birth Stories
Interview by: Megan Park
Dr. Milena Forte is a staff physician at the Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team where she has practiced Family Medicine including full-scope maternity care for over 20 years. Dr. Forte has authored several articles, two book chapters and is the creator and lead editor of the recently published anthology entitled: Full Circle, A Collection of Family Medicine Birth Stories.
Q: Could you please share with the readers a little bit about yourself and who you are?
I am a first generation Canadian, born to Italian immigrants with a very strong sense of my Italian heritage (I am not sure if some of my passion for the arts comes from that). I have been a family doctor in Toronto for over 20 years at Mount Sinai, practicing full- scope family medicine, including maternity care. I have patients from newborn to geriatric patients, and I have always been passionate about women’s health in both my clinical practice and academic work. I’m happily married with two teens and two chickens!
Q: What was your inspiration to first mix maternity care into your family medicine practice?
From a young age, I knew I wanted to do something in the realm of women’s health. I was interested in women’s studies and thinking about empowerment from that perspective. I was also interested in pregnancy and birth. Despite having a full- scope practice, my passion has always been centered around women’s health, partly from my own experiences and partly from my undergraduate studies, where I studied sociology along with health sciences. Also, given the disproportionate representation of women in our healthcare system, naturally, any family practice has a lot of women’s health embedded in it. Pregnancy care in particular captivates me because of the medical, hands- on, relational, sociological, and psychological dimensions of it.
Q: How did you discover your interest and passion for writing and storytelling?
I have always loved various forms of art and communication, including visual arts, photography, and music. For writing, I engaged in fiction, short stories, and poetry before medical training. Through medical training, I was honing other skills so this was on the backburner. My professional writing has primarily centred around patient charting, scientific journals, and commentaries. However, my interest in narrative and storytelling led me to create this anthology, bridging my medical and personal experiences. They say write what you know, so this is something I have experienced both as a physician and a mom, over the past two decades.
Q: When did you begin publishing narratives and stories?
I wrote a short story about the first birth I participated in after giving birth myself—that was published back in 2008. Then I published a story, preceding Full Circle by a couple of years. The narrative, titled Dawn and Dusk, recounts a 24-hour day when I happened to deliver two patients—one at dawn and one at dusk—with quite different circumstances surrounding their births. It really struck me and I felt the need to write about it. I encouraged a student of mine to write about one of these stories from a different perspective—and that account appears in the book.
Q: How did the idea for “Full Circle” come about?
The inspiration for the book was to have a place where we could tell patient stories, but also to highlight the role of family doctors in these stories. Many people do not know that family doctors deliver babies, and we do it in a unique way because we are already embedded in the patients’ stories, from cradle to grave. The stories in the book came together very organically, painting a picture of not only the different aspects of birth, but also illustrating how family doctors are interwoven in patient stories and the impact that patients have on us.
Q: How did you gather family doctors from across Canada to share their stories with maternity care and birth?
Through a grant by the College of Family Physicians, we were able advertise it through their platforms and social media to all family doctors in Canada, coast-to-coast. We asked for stories, poems, photographs, but we received mostly poems and stories. We wanted to create the themes of the book based on the submissions, and we were really grateful that the stories naturally aligned to the chapter themes, showcasing different aspects of care.
Q: Why did you find it important that it was the family doctor sharing these stories?
The inspiration was multi-layered. Unless you live in a community where it is the norm that your family physician provides a lot of the low-risk obstetrical care, people are often surprised that in most places, babies are also delivered by family doctors. We aimed this toward a non-medical audience, so we wanted to share relatable stories showing that family doctors are involved in birth. We wanted to share the core values of what it means to be in family medicine, and a big part of that is continuity of care. There are stories of doctors that have delivered a baby, cared for that patient into adulthood, and are now delivering that “baby’s” baby. The opportunity for that to happen is really unique to family medicine; we wanted to give a voice to that.
Q: What do you hope that readers take away while reading these stories?
I hope readers can relate to the stories, find surprising elements, and gain an appreciation for the diversity of birth experiences. It was so fun for me to hear from a non-Canadian reader, who said it was really cool to see how birth is perceived in different cultures. I think we take it for granted the diverse communities that we live in; for instance, there are stories in the book about Jewish, Southeast Asian, and Indigenous communities. Additionally, I really hope it gives readers an appreciation of how much family doctors are invested in patient’s personal stories, and the impact that they have on us.
Q: Do you have a favourite story from the collection?
While I love all the stories, two favourites are Sitting in the Light by Kristina Powles and In Stillness, Thanks by Sarah Gower. Sitting in the Light provides the less-glamorous, graphic, and intimate descriptions of post- birth moments.
For the second piece, In Stillness, Thanks, I think I cried the first, second, and third time reading it, because it was such a poignant account of processing loss. These two are my favourites, but each story resonates with a unique aspect of care that I can personally relate to.
Q: Any plans for future publications?
I am always writing something these days, but for this book, my co-editor Nisha Arora and I are discussing a second edition of Full Circle to include more voices and diverse stories. I am also excited about a project led by Katie Lee, exploring narratives around first births from both the perspective of parents and medical students, and how this can be a transformative experience.
Q: To end off the interview, how does your creative passion help you become a better physician?
Ultimately, for me, what is at the core of medicine is relationships. The arts are also very much about relationships and how you communicate certain values; I do not see art and medicine as so separate! Everyone has stories within them, and interviewing and building relationships with patients is a form of art in itself.
Interview with: Dr. Nicole Crimi
Interview by: April Christiansen
Dr. Nicole Crimi is a resident physician at the University of Toronto, specializing in otolaryngology—head and neck surgery. Nicole is a multifaceted individual, renowned for her captivating artistic talent, philanthropy, and contributions to children’s education.
Nicole had a busy childhood, pursuing acting while also exploring her interests in painting and writing. She is known for her role as Kylie George in “Mean Girls” (2004), as well as her roles in “Odyssey 5” (2002) and “In the Stars” (2006). While she excelled in the arts, Nicole always aspired to be a doctor, leading her to pursue an academic career in science and medicine.
Despite the demands of her medical studies, Nicole’s passion for the visual and literary arts remained an integral part of her life. While completing her medical education at McMaster University, Nicole authored and illustrated an empowering children’s book, “Patty and the Pandemic”, to educate children ages 3 to 8 about COVID-19 in a fun and relatable manner. If this was not inspiring enough, 100% of the profits from “Patty and the Pandemic” were donated to the Face the Future Foundation. With over 6,000 copies of the book sold, a total of $28,000.00 was generously donated to provide children around the globe with life-changing surgeries.
In her spare time, Nicole fervently explores various artistic mediums, with a particular interest in oil painting and drawing. Her art collection can be considered a memoir, sharing different emotions and experiences unique to certain phases of her life. Driven by a desire to promote self-expression and embrace all aspects of her identity, Nicole continues to balance her flourishing medical career with her artistic endeavours, leaving an indelible mark on both the realms of healthcare and the visual arts.
Q: What initially inspired you to become an artist, and how has your style evolved since you first began creating?
In the early stages of my creative journey, my sisters played an instrumental role in shaping my artistic aspirations. I am the youngest of three sisters, so naturally I was interested in whatever they were doing even at the early age of two. It started with my older sister teaching me the basics, such as how to draw shapes and colour inside the lines. She would then grade my work, usually giving me a “C” or “D,” as an older sibling does.
As I grew older and explored other art forms such as acting, piano, dancing, and singing (which was not my forte), I was always drawn back to the visual arts likely because I felt it granted me with more creative control.
Art then became not only an interest or hobby, but a skill that I continuously and consciously worked to refine. Every spare minute I would be sketching hands on math tests, teaching my classmates how to draw, and staying in at lunch break to practice. But over time with age, life changes, and skill, my art has become more about communicating a message, feeling, or experience.
With medicine and leading a busy life, I don’t always have time to complete a painting or drawing in a given time frame. Instead, my art is often completed in stages, sometimes over the course of a few years. So when I look at my art, I can see the many phases of my life, filled with different experiences or emotions, reflected in it. Even though I typically start a piece of work intending to communicate a specific message, the completed project instead teaches me something about myself and casts light on what I was going through at a given point in time.
Q: While you are clearly able to balance and blend your creative and scientific talents, did you ever feel the need to choose between art or medicine earlier in your career?
Truthfully, I have not ever felt the need to choose between art or medicine. Yes, one tends to take priority over the other at times, but this comes in ebbs and flows. In my gap year before medical school, I prioritised nurturing my work as an artist and then in my first year of residency, medicine took precedence. But, now in my second year of residency, I have been able to find a better balance. It is an active decision that I make every day to prioritise making time to create and teach art amidst my work as a resident, but it’s worth it because it adds so much value and joy to my life.
I have too often heard people say, “Oh, I used to paint,” emphasising that it was a passion of their past, but I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to neglect this expressive part of myself, so I will always prioritise my art alongside my medical career.
Q: Can you walk us through your creative process, from conception or inspiration to completion? How do you decide when a piece is finished?
Often, my art is inspired by a strong feeling or remarkable experience that I’ve had and wish to recreate for others. It may sound cliché, but sometimes you just have those really profound life moments or intense emotions, whether it be stress or pure joy, that you want to capture and be able to keep as a meaningful token.
For realistic art pieces it’s fairly straightforward–I gauge their completion based on how closely they mirror the intended picture, person, or object. However, when it comes to abstract pieces, my criteria shift. I consider them complete not when they precisely mimic something tangible, but rather when they evoke the intended emotion or memory. It sounds kind of funny, but I will put the piece above my bed, on my easel, or against a wall and I will just exist in its space and see how I respond to it. If the colours or movement of the art aren’t quite balanced, or I am not responding to it the way I want to, I will make fine changes until I’m happy with it. Really, it’s a more subjective and emotionally- driven assessment that signifies satisfaction in capturing the essence I wanted to convey.
Q: Is there an artwork of yours that is particularly special to you or reflects a specific experience of yours?
Yes for sure. High school was the transformative backdrop where I began to truly grow into myself and take art more seriously. Like most people in highschool, I felt somewhat pressured to fit into certain “boxes” or social dynamics, and didn’t always feel comfortable being my authentic self.
In my final years of highschool, I created a piece called, “The individual” which was the first abstract composition piece and the second abstract painting I had ever produced in my life. It holds a special place in my heart because it was also the first piece of art that I ever publicly presented and it represents me stepping into my identity both as an artist and as a unique individual, quirks and all. This painting is really a celebration of me being honest, raw, and authentically me.
Q: Are there any upcoming projects that you are excited about and able to share with us?
Absolutely! Some projects are currently under wraps, but one that I’m thrilled to share involves collaborating on another children’s book. This particular project is in partnership with CanChild, a non- profit research centre in Hamilton, Ontario, committed to positively impacting the lives of children and youth with disabilities.
Q: Do you think your identity as an artist influences your work as a resident physician? And if so, how?
One hundred percent. I think any kind of art form involves vulnerability and authenticity in order to connect with others. As an artist, expressing my personal experiences or feelings through my work requires me to be raw and honest. And as a resident physician, I rely on that same candidness to connect with patients when they are in their most vulnerable state. And in a more technical sense, surgery is very artistic in nature which is a large part of why I love it. For example, today in the operating room, I was finding the surgical planes and it felt like painting.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring medical learners who are trying to establish themselves in the art world or even just balance their passions while in medicine?
I would say don’t be afraid to take chances and be true to yourself. With “Patty and the Pandemic,” I had quite a few people tell me that it was not a good idea, not practical, or that it was a waste of time before they saw the book’s success and impact. Even now, people will suggest that I use my spare time to study or engage in additional research rather than create art. But art is a really important part of who I am as a person and I want to honour that.
Interview with: Drs. Annie Yu & Sarah Ge
Learn more about Palette Magazine’s start & its Co-Founders
Interview by: Catherine Shao
Q: As we are celebrating the special 10th anniversary of Palette with this Fall Issue, we are so excited to have the opportunity to chat with its co-founders, Annie Yu and Sarah Ge. To start, can each of you tell us about your journey in the arts?
Sarah: My journey in the arts began way before my journey into medicine. I loved to draw in my sketchbook when I was growing up—it was my creative outlet and a place where I could put my emotions. Eventually, I joined the Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig. I was in a Visual Arts Program there, so I engaged in a lot of visual art activities, like painting murals. Then, when it came to undergrad, I became more focused on medicine and healthcare. So, while my focus of interest shifted, the arts still played a huge role in my life just in terms of remaining as my creative outlet and source of comfort. For instance, during this time, I took some biographic design courses to sort of merge my interest in medicine with the arts. Finally at UofT, Palette became my new creative outlet as well as a creative outlet for others in the medical community.
Even now in residency, art is still a really important part of my life. I don’t have as much time to explore it as I would want to, but it’s still an outlet for me. I appreciate that it’s something like a safe haven that I can turn to when I need to take a break and a step back.
Annie: I can echo a lot of what Sarah was saying, but unlike Sarah, I don’t think I have a lot of experience with visual arts, but I’ve always really loved reading, creative writing, and literature. I think that started from when I was a very small child. I remember in senior kindergarten, reading time was always my favourite part of the day. In middle school, I moved back to China and then returned to Canada in high school. These moves back and forth made it hard to fully grasp the different language, and it was really challenging to integrate myself when I was moving so frequently. So, I sort of resorted to reading a lot of books, using it as a way to help me make friends and build a better understanding of the culture I was going into. Later, I went to the Health Sciences program at McMaster, but I remember that my favourite classes were actually the English ones. Reading is definitely something that I still try to do even now in residency.
Q: Could you tell us more about the origins of Palette?
Annie: Palette actually sort of began as a joke. It’s interesting because we went to undergrad together, but we never really talked until we both started medical school—that’s when we became really close friends. One day, we were just chatting about how we both really loved the arts and have experience in print publications. We just thought, “Oh, it would be really funny if we did something together in med school.” And that’s how it started. It was both the start of Palette and of a really great friendship between me and Sarah.
Sarah: Palette truly began as a throwaway comment during a conversation we were having one day. We initially called it, “Abstract baby.” I still have the Google Drive in my email. We also had these brainstorming sessions where Palette slowly became a reality the more we talked and thought about it. Throughout this process, we specifically started envisioning how amazing it would be to create a platform where we could celebrate all the other talents that our colleagues in UofT Medicine had to offer. I think we were also both part of UofT Medicine’s science magazine and we wanted something similar that could showcase another side of medicine. So, that was sort of how Palette evolved.
Q: Each recruitment season, we always meet several people who ask about the inspirations behind Palette’s name. So, we must ask, what is the story behind this choice in naming?
Annie: We knew that we wanted a name that was one word—something simple, but impactful. I forget who came up with the word “Palette” specifically, but I remember that we liked the symbol behind it. When you think of a colour palette, there are different colours on it—it’s sort of an amalgamation of things, and people from different backgrounds who bring in really unique talents to one project together. And it’s just such a colourful object. So, I think we liked the symbol behind it and that’s why we went with “Palette.”
Sarah: Before we landed on the name “Palette,” I think we were actually thinking about calling it “Rice.” You know, we thought it would be nice to have a white-pink aesthetic, and in a way, it also pays homage to our own Asian heritage as well. So, we thought about it for a long time, but we wanted a word that had a stronger connection to the arts, and we felt like “Palette” was the perfect word for that.
Q: Did you intend Palette to specifically showcase and celebrate the arts produced by U of T’s medical community?
Annie: Absolutely. I think from the very get- go, we wanted something that was student- led, student built, and student owned. We quickly wanted to focus on people in the local community because first of all, we’re biased: we were medical students ourselves. But, also, as we were entering that phase of exploring different medical specialties and trying out new things.
We also saw so much creative energy from the people around us. They were performing in musicals. They were writing up their own poems. We really wanted to harness that creative energy and showcase it because we knew that it wasn’t just us: there were also so many people around us who really loved the arts and would really appreciate having a platform to explore that part of their identity outside of their label as a medical student and eventually as a resident and a doctor.
Q: Can you tell us more about any unexpected joys, favourite memories, and challenges you encountered as the original Co-Editors-in-Chief of Palette?
Sarah: Palette was mine and Annie’s first time building something from the ground up. While there were definitely hurdles along the way, I think that being able to overcome them with your best friend and going through such a journey together was a unique and unforgettable experience. I also think that the overwhelming amount of support we had, both from our peers and staff, made me really feel like what we were doing was valued and important. This enthusiasm was something that was really nice to have.
In terms of specific memories, I still remember the now-joys-then challenges Annie and I faced with actually putting together the magazine. At that time, we didn’t know how to use Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, so I enlisted the help of one of my friends from art school to teach us. Annie and I literally learned Adobe on the fly, and it was hilarious because we were both messing up but having a great time doing it. And then, when we finally received the printed copies, I remember looking at it and feeling awestruck. It was everything that I thought it would be but so much more to experience the feeling of physically holding it in my hands. In that moment, I felt really proud of what we were able to accomplish, and it will always be a very resounding memory for me.
Annie: The joys for me also stemmed from the enthusiasm we received: not just from our class, but also from the UofT medical community in general. Initially, we started off very small—it just began as a conversation between the two of us. We didn’t really think that it would go as far as it did, but when we started pitching this idea to people, our friends, and then eventually to MedSoc to ask for funding, we were met with so much support and enthusiasm that this energy was definitely the major first joy that kept us going. For the rest of our Palette journey, being able to meet with the contributors and seeing how much they appreciated the opportunity to showcase their work, and doing interviews to learn more about our classmates, were all really meaningful.
Q: What about challenges you both encountered?
Sarah: I think, whenever you’re pitching a new idea, there will be people who would question it, which is totally valid. So, when we were pitching our idea initially to get funding, we actually applied to a lot of different funding sources. We got some, and we were denied by some, and so, obviously, the rejections were really difficult for us because Palette was something that we really cared about. One specific challenge that we encountered was justifying why we wanted to do a print publication. They’d ask, “Why are you spending the extra cost and funding to print it when everything is virtual right now? Why don’t you just create a website and publish it there?”
I also think that having something on paper is really important to the people who submitted their works to Palette. Even though we had to justify ourselves multiple times, I think we ultimately made the right call. A virtual copy helps increase accessibility, but having a printed copy alongside helps to better celebrate the talents and accomplishments of our contributors.
Annie: We were so adamant about wanting something tangible from the get-go because having something physical to hold onto forces you to pay attention to what’s in front of you. In our current society, where our attention spans are so short, and it’s so easy to just glance over something, scroll through something, or toggle through multiple tabs, I think having a tangible object quite literally helps ground you to what’s going on in the present. I also agree that a virtual publication would not do justice to our contributors’ work, and I think this rings especially true with visual arts and photography. It’s really special, meaningful, to have artwork in print.
Q: How do you envision the future of Palette and its development?
Annie: Both Sarah and I think that each team who came after us has done such a fantastic job because there’s something new added to Palette every year.
Whether that’s new content or a different type of event. For instance, the contest for cover art wasn’t something that came up when we first started the publication. My hope for Palette would be to always remain as a student-led publication, where we do things in-house, try new things, and continue to get as many people to contribute and participate as possible.
Sarah: This is a great question because I actually remember when Annie and I started it, we were saying that it would be cool to see an issue of Palette floating around the school 20 years down the road when we’re both staff and know that we were a part of its creation. Looking at Palette even now, I feel like it has grown so much more than what we’ve both expected. We originally started with a team of four, and now it’s expanded to a team of 14— that number still blows my mind.
For Palette’s future, I hope that it remains as a platform, not just for medical students, but also for residents and staff as a way for them to showcase their talents and express themselves, almost as a form of creative escape from the heavier realities of medicine. My wish is that it’s kept, and that it doesn’t get lost or forgotten. I’d love to see it expand and engage more residents and staff, recognizing that as we progress into residency and staff positions, we will also have more stories to tell.
Q: Finally, how do you see yourself incorporating or further developing your engagement with the arts in your future career as physicians?
Annie: To be honest, it’s certainly been harder than I expected once I started residency. You know, being a resident demands so much energy and time, and so I think it’s through interactions like this one, where I am being interviewed by you, that reminds me to still incorporate what I truly love doing into my daily life outside of work—whether it’s work for residency, local work, or research endeavours.
I’m personally in the field of psychiatry, which focuses so much on patient narratives and patient stories. So for me, having always loved storytelling and creative writing, I think in the future, it’d be really cool if I can somehow bridge the stories and experiences I’ve learned from the clinical setting in psychiatry with mental health patients into either fictional or nonfiction work. I’d be able to publish and share that with a broader population. I don’t have concrete ideas yet, but there is a journalism fellowship at UofT that I’ve been very much interested in even since medical school. I think being able to engage in journalism and creative writing through fiction or creative nonfiction would definitely be an interest of mine.
Sarah: Like Annie, I also think it’s really, really difficult. Residency for me has been really challenging in terms of dedicating time for myself; it’s just so easy to get lost in your work and the hours that you have to put in. I still view the arts as a sort of refuge—like my safe place where I can go write or sketch about my feelings and things from my day that I just need to process. I think the arts will always be that place for me and it will continue to be as I move throughout my career.
