The Newsletter of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation A Public Foundation Dedicated to Fostering Humanism in Medicine Thanksgiving 1999
The Proverbial Inspirations from the field Last Straw! It was a proverbial “last straw” that brought us to Dr. Arnold Gold’s office, “TheWhite Coat–Just in 1995. A few days before our son an item of clothing!! Anthony was to become a first grader, he rushed towards me and the force of Yet we endow it with great his impact knocked me against a wall in symbolism and power. our house,driving my hand into the skin of my face,narrowly missing my eye. When I told my mother about this speech, she told me a story that she had This was only the latest in a number of never shared with me before. My physical “accidents” in which he hurt me, father was a patient in the hospital and for which he would later apologize. where I was a resident. She remembers Anthony had been discharged from two seeing me walking down the hall Members of the Mercer University School of Medicine, child-care centers by age four, not for towards my father’s room. I was dressed Class of 2003, recite the Oath of Geneva during the School’s aggression but for not listening to the August 8, 1999 White Coat Ceremony in Macon, Georgia. in my white coat with a group of distin- teacher and/or being uncooperative. His guished white-coat-clad attending qualities I look for in my physicians are behavior at home was even worse and physicians. She explained that seeing patience, sincerity and appreciation of my husband, Rick, and I couldn’t un- me in my white coat with my teachers life and who want to share that with their derstand what caused these outbursts. was a moment of true understanding – patients. While many medical situations She turned to my father and said, ‘Mau- are stressful, one should still be able to reen is really a doctor!’ I wonder if she sense, in their medical encounter, that realized I had also probably slept in the the physician is truly present with them white coat the night before on call!” and, above all, cares about them, not as Maureen A. Strafford, M.D. part of the bottom line but as a person. My husband is a faculty physician and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, Tufts University, White Coat Ceremony works with students and residents daily. Keynote Speech, September 1999 I gave him my ‘Humanism in Medicine’ pin and he is honored to wear it.” “…I am… a member of my school’s Mary B.W. Fenton admissions committee and feel Assistant Dean, Saint Louis University extremely privileged to have been School of Medicine, June 1998 Anthony’s dad, Rick, Anthony, and his mom, Susan at home. invited to this meeting. The sympo- sium [‘Challenging the barriers to “We can’t thank you enough for your Although Anthony had graduated from sustaining humanism in medicine – support and assistance in making the kindergarten in May, and was expected Focus on the medical school selection Student Clinician Ceremony a reality. to enter first grade, his behavior since process’], made me realize that the The MSIII students have expressed to then had seriously deteriorated. Antho- me how meaningful the evening was, ny’s expulsion from summer day camp was a huge blow to him and to us. and how honored they felt to have Expanding the something so impressive planned solely Dr. Laura Brent, our devoted psycholo- Commitment...... 2 for them. In addition, the honored resi- gist, provided invaluable guidance in dents thanked us profusely for their helping us get through each week with Program Updates . . . . . 4 awards. ‘It made my year,’ said one of this difficult young child. Extended the selected interns.” family gatherings, where frequently Eleven Golden Years 6&7 Nuala Jennings Anthony was the only youngster pre- On behalf of the Committee for the third year sent, were the worst situations and his FEATURES students orientation, University of Chicago Pritzker behavior would often flare up. School of Medicine, June 1999 (continued on page 3) Expanding the Commitment responsible for the rapid expansion of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s programs. We are greatly encouraged by their collaboration and express our gratitude for their active interest, Since 1988, our organization and our programs have grown and advice and wisdom as we work together to develop effective and flourished. We now work cooperatively with deans and their useful tools to foster humanism in medicine. associates at more than 85% of American schools of medicine and osteopathy. Another group deserving credit for the success of our programs is you, our donors. Each dollar contributed to The Gold Foun- Two quotations continue to inspire The Arnold P. Gold Foun- dation furthers our mission. Our programs reach out to more dation staff and trustees. The first historic sentiment mirrors individuals in the health care professions than ever before. the philosophy and concern The Foundation especially thanks our new Golden Circle for the patient that we at members, contributors who give an additional $25,000 or The Gold Foundation seek more in any given year, and we look forward to welcoming to foster: new members. “One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in human- Our varied programs now address all levels of medical educa- ity, for the secret of the care of the tion from pre-medical students through the residency years. patient is in caring for the And through the Humanism in Medicine web site we are ex- patient.” panding our network internationally to all who are interested Francis W. Peabody, M.D. in this subject. The other quote is by the great anthropologist Margaret Mead: Proudly, we announce that the Robert Wood Johnson Founda- tion,America’s largest health care philanthropy,has awarded us “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change a new grant in 1999. It will support research and consideration the world, indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” of a national humanism honor society which will help to iden- 1999 marked the beginning of an exciting new decade for The tify and recognize those medical students who demonstrate Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Our strategic plan emphasizes outstanding qualities associated with humanism in medicine, humanism in medical education, focusing on improving the as well as excellence in scientific achievement. residency experience for young doctors, and promotes replicable models of caring We are also encouraged by the following message to us from Reed Tuckson, M.D., hospital communities so that humanistic © practitioners will have receptive environ- Senior Vice President for Professional Published at Standards at the AMA. He suggested we ments in which to work. 260 Lincoln Street, Englewood, New Jersey 07631 (201) 567-4931 · FAX (201) 567-4522 tell students that: A featured lecture at the national meeting email: [email protected] of the Association of American Medical website: www.humanism-in-medicine.org “...this is still the finest profession, but our Colleges (AAMC) in Washington, D.C. on values are being threatened every day. Do not Official Publication of be dismayed and stay the course. The physician- October 24 was devoted to “Humanism The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Inc. and Medicine.” This first annual Arnold P. patient relationship is the context around Officers which these values are expressed.” Gold Foundation lecture, titled “The Arnold P. Gold, M.D., President Intersection of Science and the Soul,” was Sandra O. Gold, Ed.D., Executive Vice President We believe the mission of fostering delivered by the distinguished writer Norman Seiden, Vice President humanism in medicine has captured the and physician, Jerome Groopman, M.D., Myron Rosner, Esq., Secretary Jeffrey L. Saltzer, C.P.A., Treasurer attention of the nation – let’s keep the Recanati Professor of Immunology at spotlight on and help our young doctors Harvard Medical School and Chief of Board of Trustees stay the course. Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Elaine Adler Robert B. Mellins,M.D. Jeni S. Arnold John H. Peace May you and yours have a very healthy Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Herman Aronson William J. Peace, Ph.D. His inspiring address celebrated a series Brian E. Benson David E. Rogers, M.D.* and happy holiday season, of articles published this year by the Angelica Berrie Leonard Rubin DavidV.Habif,Jr., M.D. Mark Seiden prestigious journal Academic Medicine. Charles Klatskin SamuelC.Silverstein,M.D. We thank the Healthcare Foundation of Linda D. Lewis, M.D. Norma E. Wagoner, Ph.D. New Jersey for underwriting this lecture William J. Lippman Barry Waldorf, Esq. Arnold and Sandra Gold Ira H. Lustgarten,Esq.* Daniel T. Williams,M.D. and reception. *deceased
It is clear from the overflow audience at Leadership Cabinet Dr. Groopman’s lecture that our message Robert Berkowitz Brett Harris, Esq. Holiday Gifts –that humanism in medicine must be The perfect Christmas reemphasized at all levels in health care– Professional Advisory Council Rita Charon, M.D., Ph.D. John Stone, M.D. or Chanukah present for that is resonating throughout the health hard-to-choose-a-gift-for-person. professions. Victoria B. White, M.A. Make a contribution to This attention is due, in large part, to the Director of Programs The Arnold P. Gold Foundation special group of medical school deans who Rebecca A. Sullivan, M.A. in their honor, and we will have championed humanism and imple- Research Consultant acknowledge it with a beautifully Arlene Gould, M.A.T. designed greeting card. mented our programs. Their enthusiastic DOC Editor cooperation and involvement is ultimately 2 Where the Foundation Money Goes $ Student and faculty initiated projects, such as Ethics Night programs and lectures on varied subjects at several medical More than $675,000 in grants awarded in 1999 for: schools. $ One hundred and four White Coat Ceremonies at U.S. $ A year-long “Humanism and Medicine” series of articles in schools of medicine and osteopathy, plus at all four schools the national journal Academic Medicine. of medicine in Israel, involving more than 15,000 entering medical students as well as their families this year. $ Commencement Awards at the College of Physicians & $ A new humanism curriculum designed for interns and resi- Surgeons at Columbia University for an outstanding faculty dents being piloted at Columbia University College of Physi- member and graduating student demonstrating excellence in cians & Surgeons, the University of Chicago Pritzker School science and compassionate patient care. of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. $ www.humanism-in-medicine.org, our dynamic web site, $ The Student Clinician’s Ceremony, a transitional ceremony supported by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. for third year medical students as they enter the clinical phase $ Five Assistant/Associate Professorships at the Columbia of their education, which features special awards to residents University College of Physicians & Surgeons awarded to out- for excellence in teaching and being humanistic mentor role- standing teacher-role models. models for medical students. $ Five Home Visit Programs for resident training being pilot- $ Research and development of an on-line resource center ed in Virginia, New York City and Newark, NJ. for “Caring Hospital Communities,” supported by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. $ Fourteen Student Summer Research Fellowships to explore community health issues for medical students at $ An initiative to establish a national humanism honor seven U.S. medical schools. society recognizing medical students for outstanding compassionate patient care supported by The Robert Wood $ Continuing research studies, professional presentations, Johnson Foundation. and articles on students’ attitudes toward humanism.
The Proverbial Last Straw! maturity overall were being gained an others as a recipient of the “President’s (continued from page 1) inch or even a millimeter at a time. Award.” In June of 1999, he was accept- Dr. Gold headed the excellent clinical ed on a “traveling” soccer team, a major The fact that he had tested as very personal accomplishment for him. bright at three years old made his team that helped to save our son. His refusal to follow instructions and his plan was implemented with the support His capacity to excel in sports was made inability to get everyday tasks finished of another critical possible because of his new ability to very difficult for us to understand. team member,a listen and to follow instructions. Antho- patient and lov- ny has had the opportunity to become Shortly after these events, we asked Dr. ing college stu- connected with his peers, his team- Brent about testing Anthony for Atten- dent named Sara mates and his family thanks to person- tion Deficit Disorder, the only diagnosis Moore,who work- alized treatment. We thank the entire that seemed a reasonable explanation ed with us for compassionate and attentive team and for his behavior. She then referred us four years,as a especially its leader, Dr. Arnold Gold. to Dr. Gold. His subsequent diagnosis nanny and a tutor. included Attention Deficit Hyperactivi- Susan Lepre, Ph.D. ty Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional I am happy to Defiant Disorder (ODD). report that four years later, a Dr. Gold recommended several major Anthony Lepre in action at a child who enter- soccer tournament last August. DOC’s Angels changes, including a year’s delay in the ed school a year start of first grade, a combination of late and who received very few invita- This issue of DOC is made medication, behavioral therapy and tions to birthday parties that first year in possible by the support of: parental counseling, known as the elementary school, recently celebrated “multimodal approach.” (It involves his tenth birthday with 17 classmates. Milton and Shirley Gralla close communication with the school There have been many wonderful mile- system.) As a result, Anthony’s behavior Thomas Moore and stones for Anthony. In the Spring of Judith Livingston Moore improved dramatically. 1998 he was selected to enter the gifted We were not seeing full-scale rages and program in our school district, one of Norman and Barbara Seiden tantrums everyday although they still only ten children from approximately Stanley and Sylvia Shirvan occurred. While there were frequent 150 eligible students. At the end of setbacks, improvements in emotional third grade, Anthony was honored with 3 Our Foundation communication skills, creative problem- Hands-on Participation solving and self-challenge, the class and Investigation Programs On the Move! leadership invited the entire second year class to an outdoor environment Fourteen students at seven U.S. medical away from the classroom for one day. schools received grants to spend this Clowning in Russia with past summer exploring a wide variety of Patch Adams public health issues. These students, From Book to Bedside selected by their deans, work closely with faculty mentors on projects Student Clinician’s Ceremonies (SCC), designed to continue when the fellow- the new student-generated transitional ships end. program for beginning third year stu- dents, was piloted again this summer at Our Foundation’s Summer Research five medical schools for a second year. Fellowships differ from most grants The orientation programs – preparing made available to medical students in students for the move from book to bed- that they support hands-on participa- side – are being evaluated and the tion and investigation into community checklist for future replication of the health, rather than basic laboratory research. SCC ceremony is being written. Repre- Amy Auslander, left, and Xochitl Olmos, right, pictured sentatives from several additional medical This year the medical schools at St. with Vicki White, Gold Foundation Director of Programs, schools have contacted us about partici- Louis, NYU and Tufts Universities in costume prior to their trip to Russia to “clown around” pating in the program next summer. were added to four other schools as with Patch Adams, M.D. recipients of these unique To acquire an overview of medicine and research fellowships. social services in the former Soviet Adina Israel at the Universi- Union, The Gold Foundation sponsor- ty of Chicago conducted ed two medical students to accompany focus groups to learn more Patch Adams, M.D. to Russia in about the attitudes and November. Donning clown costumes beliefs of African-American and assuming special new personalities men with HIV and AIDS in for the project, Amy Auslander and hopes of learning ways to Xochitl Olmos, third year medical stu- increase patient compliance dents at Columbia University’s College in often complex medical of Physicians & Surgeons, “made treatments. friends” in orphanages and hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. At Cornell’s Weill College of The two students, both of whom have Medicine, Veronica Meneses Pictured from left, with Drs. Arnold Gold and Sandra Gold and Zephaniah Okeke shared a fellow- provided leadership for The Founda- at the University of Iowa 1999 Student Clinician’s Ceremony, tion’s humanism in medicine web site are resident awardees Drs. Stephanie Powell, (the Golds), ship on a continuing project geared to Alan Hilgerson, Leslie Webster and Michael Napierkowski. for nearly two years, kept journals educate and prepare minority high about the trip to post on The Big Picture school students interested in studying ...Daily Message portion of the web site. Encouraging Respect for medicine. Amy’s trip was underwritten by funds Diversity and Communication Among the four students at Columbia raised at a special event last Spring, Pediatric residents at New York’s University College of Physicians & hosted by The Foundation’s new Asso- Montefiore Medical Center, under the Surgeons was Elizabeth Munro, who ciates Committee, a group of dynamic guidance of Dr. Alex Okun, Associate was awarded the 1999 Helen and Fred young individuals interested in our Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Waldorf Fellowship. Her project was, mission. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, “Factors mediating medical adherence have joined our Home Visit Program. in HIV-infected children.” Supporting the Compassionate Other participant schools are the Dr. The other 1999 participants included: Practice of Medicine Jacob Handler program at Columbia, Holly Campbell, Renuka Jain and Gre- A goal of The Gold Foundation is to the New Jersey Medical School and the gory Vipond at Columbia; Persephone encourage students to create programs University of Virginia, where Dr. Leigh Jones and Denise Martin at the New and activities that support the compas- Donowitz initiated the program. Jersey Medical School; Elena Rios and sionate practice of medicine. At Colum- The goals of the Home Visit Program Martina Smit at New York University; bia, the student managed P&S Club include sensitizing residents to their Catherine Keefe at St. Louis University received Foundation support for a new often culturally diverse clinic patients, and Jeffrey Polgar and Atena Rosak at event for second year students, providing underserved families with Tufts University. designed to reinforce the values of com- personalized medical service by a team passion and humanism emphasized at of experts, and encouraging communi- first year orientation in the White Coat cations between residents and their Victoria B. White Ceremony. To promote teamwork, trust, mentor role-models. Director of Programs 4 Correspondence From Cyberspace THE ARNOLD P. G OLD FOUNDATION “I’m happy to find this site! I think the relationship between doc and patient is basic for the healing process. I wish to learn something more with you. To Forum To Bulletin Board Thanks.” L. (Medical student) from Brazil “I am a first year medical student and I FAQ – First Time FAQ – First Time have to say that at the start of the white coat ceremony I thought that it was a Forum Users Bulletin Board Users pretty hokey and downright self-aggran- dizing ordeal. After all, there is no ‘gavel ceremony’ for students entering law school or ‘gear ceremony’ for engineer- Forum Archives ing students. That’s not to say that I did- n’t enjoy the program. Our speaker has left an indelible mark on me as well as my family and fiance’s heart. What I did- Join our conversations at: www.humanism-in-medicine.org every day! The Forum is open from 6:00 pm to 4:00 am (EST). n’t realize at the time was how soon we Post any topic on The Bulletin Board, 24 hours a day. This is where you can make your opinions known. would be ‘playing doctor.’ Just a few weeks later we started our preceptorship. Looking back (not “It is heartening to know that empathy (which I have been too far back at that) I realize now that the beginning of first using for almost 20 years as a medical doctor) has finally found year really is the beginning of our medical careers and a cere- its rightful place and will be taught in medical schools. My mony is an excellent way to mark such a milestone. Thank you.” sincerest thanks to all of you who have made this possible.” A. from the USA Dr. S. from Malaysia Heartfelt Thanks