Brain Candy, the Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSU SOM) Journal of Art and Literature, adds to a growing body of similar publications at medical schools. Writing and the arts are commonly the principal subject of medical conferences, two recent examples being Writing and the Art of Medicine: From Personal Reflection to Publication from the 2009 Society of General Internal Medicine National Conference and The Examined Life: Writing and the Art of Medicine, an annual conference hosted by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. " It is with this same spirit that Brain Candy, the WSU SOM Journal of Art and Literature, is born: not as a diversion from our busy lives, but as part of our responsibility to be complete and conscientious practitioners of the healing art.

Brain Candy strives to enrich and round-out the experience of health education and healthcare at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and its affiliate hospitals. How do medical students internalize and respond emotionally to their interactions with a dying patient? How do physicians adjust to the declining health of patients that they have known for a quarter-century? How do the demands of medical professions affect the personal lives of medical professionals? Where is the art in illness? Where is the unexpected in the quotidian? These questions and others, integral to a complete appreciation of medicine, are explored in this journal.

Brain Candy was developed by Stephanie Judd. First edition editors include: Stephanie Judd, Deepti Reddy, Alok Sachdeva, and Mary Tanski.  View the Brain Candy 2017 Edition.

Submissions can be sent to the Writing Workshop at:waynesomwriting@gmail.com.