A healing aesthetic

RAYNHAM -- Dr. Cheng-Chieh Chuang arrives at Lakeside Family Practice on Broadway each day a couple of hours before his first patient. He spends those early hours in his sun-drenched second-floor studio, painting large nature-based watercolors. Sometimes he will spend two full hours on one square inch of canvas.

Painting, Chuang says, is his form of meditation -- ``for me, meditation is to focus on what you do."

Chuang has applied the same sense of detail to his property on Broadway, where he reopened his medical practice last May after working for four years in a more typical ``box type" building nearby.

The result is something of a local landmark, a reflection of the ways in which the 38-year-old Chuang is carving out a reputation as a local doctor with a different approach to medicine.

With the help of his students from Brown University , where Chuang teaches an art and medicine course, he planted more than 7,000 bulbs and 300 flowering trees on his 1-acre property.

The grounds at Lakeside Family Practice, thanks to those efforts, are ablaze with spring flowers and trees of every size, color, and texture.

Inside his office building, which is a converted house, Chuang installed large windows that allow the light to flood in. Bonsai adorn the windowsills and Chuang's paintings and photographs hang on the walls.

``It's my big art project, and it's evolving all the time," Chuang said of his property.

There are crocuses and dwarf iris es in late March, then daffodils and hyacinths in April, followed by tulips. Then the leaves of the Japanese maples begin to unfurl, and the peonies of late May and June appear.

Dahlias make their entrance mid-summer and last until frost. And in the winter, the blood red bark of his Japanese maple trees will provide relief from the starkness of that season.

Patients enter along a walkway lined with fragrant hyacinth. Wind chimes gently announce their arrival in a parlor-like waiting area with classical music. There they can peruse Chuang's books on art and religion, sports and health. Sometimes, a patient will ask to borrow a volume. ``And I've never had them not return one yet," Chuang said.

The waiting area opens to a kitchen where Chuang lays out mangoes, bananas, and other fruit for his patients and staff to enjoy. Sometimes he bakes bread in the kitchen, adding an aroma people associate with home. In the shade-filled backyard, there is a small meditation garden.

Chuang believes setting can dramatically affect mood. ``Most of the time when people come to the doctor's, they are already nervous," Chuang said. ``I want to make them feel comfortable."

Chuang's medical assistant, Susan Lagasse , says it works. ``They find it very calming," Lagasse said. ``Patients say that to us all the time. They think the grounds are gorgeous, and they are in awe of his paintings inside. They just love Dr. Chuang. They think he's a saint."

Chuang was born and raised in Taiwan, then moved with his family to Argentina when he was 15 years old . He earned his undergraduate degree at Brown University and his medical degree from Yale University's School of Medicine. After completing his training, Chuang spent several years as a traveling physician, working in underserved rural and urban areas.

While Chuang has a strong background in traditional medicine, he is also open to alternative remedies. He views himself as a healer who cares for the whole person: mind, body and spirit. ``When you're happy, your immune system is strong. You feel better and enjoy life more."

Professor Melinda Bridgman recently brought students from the Rhode Island School of Design , as well as a group from Brown University's pre-med program, to Chuang's office. ``I felt that they needed to experience this integration of art and healing, and to witness how it continues to unfold in all aspects of Dr. Chuang's life," Bridgman said.

Lagasse said the staff also benefits from the atmosphere Chuang has created. ``I worked for five years at Brockton Hospital and seven years at Cape Cod Hospital," Lagasse said. ``Here, it's very different. We all find it very relaxing. . . . You leave here at the end of the day very calm."

Christine Wallgren can be reached at CLWallgren@aol.com.