About this talk
Artist, curator, and patient advocate Ted Meyer finds artistic inspiration in the adversity of the patient experience. In his 2016 TEDMED Talk, Ted shares how communicating patients’ stories through art can help healthcare providers to gain a more complete understanding of their patients’ pain, loneliness, and frustration.
About Ted Meyer
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Ted Meyer is a well-known artist, curator, and patient advocate who uses his personal health journey to inspire others. Born with Gaucher disease, a rare genetic disorder, he has used his own experiences to create powerful art that helps people see the positive side of difficult health challenges. For over two decades, his main project has been “Scarred for Life: Mono-prints of Human Scars.” In this series, Ted creates detailed prints of people’s scars, which tell stories of their survival through accidents, surgeries, and serious illnesses. His work highlights not just the physical marks, but the emotional courage and resilience of those who have faced trauma. His art has been displayed in galleries and medical schools around the world, making a strong statement about the beauty of human resilience. Ted is also a dedicated educator. As the former Artist in Residence at the USC Keck School of Medicine, he created exhibitions of art by patients. These exhibitions were designed to help future doctors understand their patients as whole people, with rich lives and complex stories beyond their medical charts. His work teaches doctors empathy and helps patients feel seen and heard, showing how art can be a powerful tool in medicine.