CityView Magazine

Editor’s Corner THE ARTIST IS IN S T. PAULS – Most of the patients have no idea that the artist is also their doctor. Bright canvases in shades of deep blue and orange line almost every available wall at Primary Care of St. Pauls. It seems more like an art gallery than a doctor’s office and there is, in fact, a small nook wedged between exam rooms for that very purpose; local artists will soon display their work alongside the paintings of Dr. Mohamed Osman. Dr. Osman grew up in the seaside town of Merka, Somalia, the inspiration for many of his paintings, two of which are pictured here. Patients waiting for a blood-pressure check gaze at children playing on the beach or a group of women in traditional African dress, all carefully labeled with gallery-style placards. Osman and his wife, Natalia Zaitseva, worked for many years in Africa, he as a physician for the United Nations, she as a dentist. They met as students in her native Russia. The couple would eventually leave his war-torn homeland for Canada, then Seattle, Wash., and finally Fayetteville. They opened a small family practice just down the road in the small town of St. Pauls five years ago. But it’s only recently that Osman has had a place to display so many paintings from his collection of more than 500 original works of art. He and Zaitseva moved the practice to a beautiful new Crafstman-style building on Blue Street in February. Soon after, they began hanging Osman’s paintings. An open 12 | June/July • 2010 house is tentatively set for June 11. Osman describes it as one of the few if not the only gallery to be housed in a medical clinic. And that’s where I met the couple on a recent Tuesday afternoon. I asked Dr. Osman which came first, the art or the medicine. He crossed arms over lime-green scrubs peeking out beneath his white coat, smiled and surprised me – the art grew out of the medicine, he said. Without any formal training, he began painting after medical school. His paintings draw on memories of Africa, but Osman’s more abstract pieces tackle medical subjects, everything from conception to depression. Perhaps only a painter who is also a doctor could make art out of nicotine addiction or cancer. And it seems a fitting introduction to our annual Medical Issue. We, too, take a fresh look at a familiar subject. Regular CityView contributor and physician Dr. Lenny Salzberg tells us what happened when his family tried a gluten-free diet. Sara VanderClute brings us a story about a series of novels being used to train nurses. And we think you’ll be intrigued by the final installment of our popular series on Stone Manor. Have a wonderful summer!CV Allison Williams, Editor

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