About 40 members of the UC Riverside School of Medicine community celebrated the publication of the inaugural edition of the Cúrate literary magazine at a reception at the UCR Alumni and Visitors Center on October 15, 2021.

The event featured readings by the authors as well as an exhibition of some of the art that appeared in the magazine.

The magazine was the brainchild of then-first year medical student Zahab Qazi and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education Brigham Willis M.D., who wanted to create a platform where students, faculty and staff could practice their creative process and self-medicine. With that in mind, they named the magazine Cúrate after the Spanish word for "heal thyself." The 60-page magazine contains prose, poetry, and art and photography from more than two dozen contributors from across the SOM.

"It felt fitting to create a literary magazine that would showcase the voices and talents of medical professionals from our communities," Qazi wrote in the editor's note of the magazine. "To give those who dedicate their lives to the healing of others a space: a space to heal themselves. As medical professionals we sometimes forget the joy and calm that can come from art." 

Qazi served as the editor-in-chief of the publication and was joined by Art Editor Kimberly Contreras, Copy Editors Jennifer Yoo, Daniel Tsai, Hoveda S. Mufti, Ayesha Tariq, Mandy Lai, and Hanna Mandell. In addition to Willis, UCR SOM faculty members Goldberry Long and Juliet McMullin served as faculty advisors.

Copies of the magazine may be purchased by contacting Isidra Martinez via email.

A gallery of photos from the event can be seen here.