SAN FRANCISCO — Discipline, creativity and a steady hand — all traits that an artist must possess.

According to Dr. Don Hershman, they are qualities that a surgeon must possess. He would seemingly know, because he is both of those things.

“I always said there is a part of my brain that turns on at a certain point in the painting and in the surgery. I mean the blank canvass is daunting. When you are beginning a surgery, it’s the beginning of an adventure. It’s a creative energy that not many people have the experience of talking about, because surgeons are surgeons and artists are artists. Not many people do both,” Hershman said.

As a board-certified surgeon and a celebrated San Francisco-based artist, his artwork and paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and internationally. Different series of paintings depict several subjects. Code-switching is a subject that is exhibited in some recent works. The depiction is about the practice of changing ones language, tone and behavior to adapt to different social contexts.

“People adjust their language to fit in. I can only speak for my experience as a gay man going through medical school having to code-switch. Back in the day, being gay was completely unacceptable and you couldnt get through your surgical training if you were out. I didnt feel victimized by it, because it’s just the way thigs were,” Hershman said.

Hershman continues to flourish in both professions and says they compliment each other in practice.

“It doesnt matter whether a patient is a privileged patient or someone that is poor, discriminated against or marginalized. When they are in that chair, they are just a patient. Everybody is equal. Everything flattens right out. It gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world in that way.

Healthcare, that’s the privilege of it, and it makes you more human. As an artist, it makes me a better artist,” Hershman said.

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