I’m looking at the photograph of a five-year-old girl, her big brown eyes a window into her childlike innocence. She’s wearing a shirt that is two sizes too big and a frown. The setting seems to be a small room with walls made of bamboo. A simple piece of paper in front of her reads, “fever and cough for three days and discharge from the left. PE- left ear TM red. Diagnosis: Otitis Media.” The photograph is titled, “Finding Normal Within the Abnormal.”

This image is striking for many reasons. I see the juxtaposition of a typical diagnosis in childhood with an atypical setting. I think about the subject, an innocent-five-year-old girl in a refugee camp, and the emotions her face conveys. Finally, I feel inspired by the image and a call to service. This thought-provoking piece was taken not by a professional photographer, but by a pediatrician who has paused to reflect and brought humanism to her work.

Reflejos, a first-edition print publication by the USF Department of Internal Medicine, includes 53 pages of poetry, essays, photography, and paintings by physicians in our department. This is no simple picture book. A deeper look reveals insightful human beings behind the white coats of our attendings, fellows, and residents. Named after the Spanish word for “reflections,” Reflejos is just that: each poem, essay, and photograph reveals each physician’s humanity in a unique way. It is truly a beautiful and powerful idea to be behold.

Reflejos is a bounty of inspiring work—you can feel the human spirit exuding from its pages. A haiku written by a resident describes the emotions of welcoming your first child into the world—you feel the writer’s anticipation and excitement. Another piece by a leading infectious disease specialist is a still life painting of a green apple. Turn the page and you will find professional-quality photographs from all over the world.

Each piece shows us that we bring our own experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives to our jobs as physicians, and we should not forget who we are in our embrace of the profession. Our lives with and without the white coat are intertwined, each a reflection of the other. In a world of increasing screen time, data, and numbers, these reflections matter even more. Art reminds us that when we hang up our coats at the end of the day, we are people first: It seeks to recenter us as individuals and to remind us to look inward. As physicians and healthcare workers, we must pause to reflect and take a moment to nurture ourselves and our minds. Only then can we continue to nurture and care for those around us.

Van Doren and Henry put it so well in a previous SGIM Forum article: we have to normalize a culture of introspection in our field of work.¹ Reflejos embodies this view, and I cannot agree more. Also, by leading this project, I discovered the depth and breadth of talent within our physician community. Reflejos offers a platform that not only fosters an environment of openness and creativity among our physicians and trainees but also provides a medium for vulnerability and individualism. As a result, I felt connected to my colleagues in a way that was not possible before. To me, a successful infectious disease attending physician is a skilled painter. A co-resident is an emotional, proud father. A pediatrician on a mission trip is a photographer and storyteller. Each physician is an individual, their humanity reflecting in their work and their work reflecting in their humanity.

Reflejos is available for free online: online.anyflip.com/iqzsq/ewfd/mobile/index.html.