From hospital corridors to the multiverse, Erasmia resident and final-year medical student, Bilqees Hassen brought medicine, storytelling and geek culture together at Comic Con Africa.
The 23-year-old, who is also the author of two young adult fiction books, took to the stage at the Johannesburg Nasrec Expo Centre on Friday (Sept 25), with about 20,000 people in attendance on the day, returning to Comic Con Africa for the second time as a speaker after making her first appearance last year. Bilqees presented a session titled, “Heroes in White Coats: Med School Meets the Multiverse,” exploring the surprising similarities between medical school and the world of comics, fantasy and science fiction. Drawing on her own experiences in medicine, she looked at how clinical cases, medical mysteries and the realities of medical training could inspire fictional worlds and larger-than life characters. The session also got the audience involved, with those attending helping to create an original superhero based on medical concepts, personality traits and imaginative powers.
Bilqees told the Laudium Sun, “Medicine is full of stories. Every patient has a story, every diagnosis has a journey and sometimes the most extraordinary stories begin with something completely ordinary. It was also quite enjoyable relaying my craziest medicine stories to the crowd and hearing the gasps.”