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By Nicholas Wood

Nestled inside her parent’s closet-turned-library sat a young Robin Newburn pulling a chain switch to shine some light on the encyclopedia she was poring over.

“If my parents couldn't find me, that's where I was—on the floor in there reading,” recalls Newburn, D.O., with a warm grin. Science and the natural world were her subjects of choice, but, really, she loved it all—art, poetry, languages— “I was never satisfied with what we were being taught in school.”

You might say this voraciousness is the result of how she was raised: growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Newburn’s parents frequently invited graduate students from the local university over for dinner, encouraging their children to join in on scholarly debates. Education was an obvious cornerstone of her upbringing.

Newburn’s explanation, on the other hand, is simpler, if a bit more ephemeral.

“It’s just a part of who I am, I came here knowing that,” she said, her eyebrows gently furrowed, and after a thoughtful pause, “something in my soul always pulled me to this purpose…it’s innately spiritual.”

Thus, Newburn’s heart, soul—her humanity—is the force that led her to becoming the doctor she is today, and what continues to guide her as she helps patients, medical  students, and, for a brief time, members of Girl Scout Troop 227 lead fulfilling, meaningful lives.

While it’s easy for her to recognize this upon reflection, she also acknowledges there were times she struggled to bring her full self into her profession. When Newburn first came to the ������Ƶ College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Summer Scholars Program in 1988, she immediately felt at home in the school’s familial atmosphere and eagerly accepted her spot the following year in the class of 1993. Immersing herself in science and medicine while at OHIO was a dream, but she later couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

“I always did kind of feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole in many ways because I like to write poetry. I love literature. I love to read and write,” recalled Newburn. “I was coming through medicine at a time where those things weren't encouraged to coexist. You were either one or the other.”

For someone who embraced knowledge in all its forms and facets, adhering to one area of expertise, one approach toward education and care felt stifling. Still, she persisted down the path she felt called to, completing her studies and going on to provide health care to patients throughout Ohio—even running her own private practice for a short time. She found fulfillment in the meaningful connections she made with patients, especially those she could meet on home visits.

“It really just opened up my eyes to this whole segment of society who weren't getting medical care because they had no way to get to the doctor's office,” said Newburn. “So we were able to meet that need, and through that I realized that being a house call doc was a part of who I am.”

But there were other parts of herself that Newburn still felt disconnected from, and around 20 years into her career she began asking, “am I being true to myself?” This self-reflection led her to the decision to teach—accepting a clinical faculty position in 2014 at the then newly-established Dublin campus of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. But she wanted to teach differently, in the way she craved when she was a fledgling physician.

It began with contributing to a college-wide “Mindfulness Tuesday” newsletter, encouraging members of her campus community to engage in practices that kept their minds, bodies and spirits in alignment. This then inspired her to go one step further and form the Humanism in Medicine Club to further explore the role of arts and humanities in the context of health care.

“I think that's when I realized I needed to be doing something that involves writing,” said Newburn. “So I presented it to the students: what do you guys think about starting some type of art and literary magazine?”

Thus, ART-ery—an art and literary journal produced by the Humanism in Medicine Club—was established in 2015, and has been going strong ever since.

“Now everybody kind of knows about it—they look forward to it. I'll get emails asking, ‘when is ART-ery?’” said Newburn. “I've even had a few students send me a short story or poem that they've written in advance of ART-ery to ask what I think about it.”

Newburn also co-founded the Open Book Project, an elective for first- and second-year students interested in engaging with narrative works to broaden their perspective on patient-preceptor interactions. In this way, not only has Newburn forged her own path toward the care provider she wants to be, she’s taking the next generation of physicians along with her—fostering a wholly human approach to health care.

“It makes you a better student and a better doctor, and you're able to relate to patients better, if you can be your authentic self,” said Newburn. “If that means you paint with water colors, or you write poetry, or you play guitar, that is a part of who you are. You’re doing a great disservice if you aren't including that in everything that you do.”