Alpha Omega Alpha Spring 2014 Honor Medical Society THE PHAROS of Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society SPRING 2014 “Be Worthy to Serve the Suffering” Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Founded by William W. Root in 1902 Officers and Directors at Large Editor Richard L. Byyny, MD John Tooker, MD, MBA President Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Editor Emeritus (in memoriam) Robert J. Glaser, MD C. Bruce Alexander, MD Immediate Past President Associate Editor and Helen H. Glaser, MD Birmingham, Alabama Managing Editor Douglas S. Paauw, MD (in memoriam) President-Elect Seattle, Washington Managing Editor Debbie Lancaster Joseph W. Stubbs, MD Secretary-Treasurer Art Director and Illustrator Albany, Georgia Robert G. Atnip, MD Designer Erica Aitken Hershey, Pennsylvania Eve J. Higginbotham, SM, MD Editorial Board Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Richard B. Gunderman, MD, PhD Indianapolis, Indiana Jeremiah A. Barondess, MD Faith T. Fitzgerald, MD Eric Pfeiffer, MD Sheryl Pfeil, MD New York, New York Sacramento, California Tampa, Florida Columbus, Ohio David A. Bennahum, MD Daniel Foster, MD William M. Rogoway, MD Albuquerque, New Mexico Dallas, Texas Stanford, California Alan G. Robinson, MD John A. Benson, Jr., MD James G. Gamble, MD, PhD Shaun V. Ruddy, MD Los Angeles, California Portland, Oregon Stanford, California Richmond, Virginia Wiley Souba, MD, DSc, MBA Richard Bronson, MD Dean G. Gianakos, MD Bonnie Salomon, MD Hanover, New Hampshire Stony Brook, New York Lynchburg, Virginia Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD John C.M. Brust, MD John S. Sergent, MD Jean D. Gray, MD Washington, DC New York, New York Halifax, Nova Scotia Nashville, Tennessee Charles S. Bryan, MD David B. Hellmann, MD Marjorie S. Sirridge, MD Columbia, South Carolina Baltimore, Maryland Kansas City, Missouri Medical Organization Director Robert A. Chase, MD Pascal James Imperato, MD Clement B. Sledge, MD Carol A. Aschenbrener, MD Stanford, California, and Brooklyn, New York Marblehead, Massachussetts Association of American Medical Colleges Jaffrey, New Hampshire John A. Kastor, MD Jan van Eys, Ph.D., MD Washington, DC Henry N. Claman, MD Baltimore, Maryland Nashville, Tennessee Denver, Colorado Michael D. Lockshin, MD Abraham Verghese, MD, DSc Councilor Directors Fredric L. Coe, MD New York, New York (Hon.) Stanford, California Lynn M. Cleary, MD Chicago, Illinois Kenneth M. Ludmerer, MD Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD State University of New York Upstate Medical Jack Coulehan, MD St. Louis, Missouri Washington, DC University Stony Brook, New York J.Joseph Marr, MD Gerald Weissmann, MD Mark J. Mendelsohn, MD Ralph Crawshaw, MD New York, New York University of Virginia School of Medicine Portland, Oregon Stephen J. McPhee, MD David Watts, MD San Francisco, California Alan G. Wasserman, MD Peter E. Dans, MD Mill Valley, California Baltimore, Maryland Francis A. Neelon, MD George Washington University School of Lawrence L. Faltz, MD Durham, North Carolina Medicine and Health Sciences Sleepy Hollow, New York Coordinator, Residency Initiatives Suzann Pershing, MD Stanford University Student Directors www.alphaomegaalpha.org Christopher Clark, MD University of Mississippi Medical School Tonya Cramer, MD Manuscripts being prepared for The Pharos should be typed double-spaced, submitted in triplicate, and conform to the format Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin outlined in the manuscript submission guidelines appearing on our website: www.alphaomegaalpha.org. They are also available University of Medicine & Science from The Pharos office. Editorial material should be sent to Richard L. Byyny, MD, Editor, The Pharos, 525 Middlefield Road, Suite Laura Tisch 130, Menlo Park, California 94025. Medical College of Wisconsin Requests for reprints of individual articles should be forwarded directly to the authors. The Pharos of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (ISSN 0031-7179) is published quarterly by Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 525 Middlefield Road, Suite 130, Menlo Park, California 94025, and printed by The Ovid Bell Press, Inc., Fulton, Administrative Office Missouri 65251. Periodicals postage paid at the post office at Menlo Park, California, and at additional mailing offices. Copyright Richard L. Byyny, MD © 2012, by Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. The contents of The Pharos can only be reproduced with the written Executive Director permission of the editor. (ISSN 0031-7179) Menlo Park, California Circulation information: The Pharos is sent to all dues-paying members of Alpha Omega Alpha at no additional cost. All correspondence relating to circulation should be directed to Ms. Debbie Lancaster, 525 Middlefield Road, Suite 130, Menlo Park, California 94025. E-mail: [email protected] Menlo Park, California 94025 Telephone: (650) 329-0291 POSTMASTER: Change service requested: Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 525 Middlefield Road, Suite 130, Fax: (650) 329-1618 Menlo Park, CA 94025. E-mail: [email protected] The Pharos • Volume 77 Number 2 • Spring 2014 In This Issue DEPARTMENTS On the cover Alpha Omega Alpha Winter 2014 Honor Medical Society Editorial See page 5 2 AΩA Fellow in Leadership Award Richard L. Byyny, MD Alpha Omega Alpha elects 26 honorary members The physician at the movies 28 Peter E. Dans, MD Girl with a Pearl Earring Mister 880 (1950) Reviews and reflections 33 Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief ARTICLES Reviewed by Frederic W. Platt, MD The Lost Carving Dennett’s echo Reviewed by Francis A. Neelon, MD 5 God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, Catherine Dennett Spaulding and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine Reviewed by Richard Bronson, MD Words beyond death 14 Literary form and its intentions in Paul Zweig’s last Multi-AΩA families works 37 Christopher G. Salib 2013 donations to 40 Alpha Omega Alpha Healing, harming, and Hippocrates 20 Physician-assisted suicide in Roman medicine POETRY Felipe Fernandez del Castillo Electrical Tracings in Silk 32 Doug Hester, MD INSIDE Elegy BACK BACK The Alpha Omega Alpha David and Diane Benji Perin 30COVER COVER de Harter Visiting Professorship 49 49 Editorial AΩA Fellow in Leadership Award Richard L. Byyny, MD t its annual meeting in October 2013, the AΩA Board of Directors approved an AΩA Leadership Award and DevelopmentA Program, to be implemented in 2014. Leadership has long been a core value of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and is one of the criteria for membership. Unfortunately, many AΩA members with lead- ership potential or leadership experience at mid-level posi- tions may find themselves without the resources to advance their leadership careers. Given that many AΩA members have significant accomplishments in medicine, education, and health care, and have the potential to become great leaders if they receive the training and experience to hone their leader- ship skills, we believe this is a lost opportunity for medicine. This raises an important question for AΩA: How can we as an interdisciplinary honor medical society best support and contribute to leadership promotion and development as part of our mission and one of our core values—“to improve care Illustration by Jim M’Guinness. 2 The Pharos/Spring 2014 for all by encouraging the development of leaders in academia tenets of medical ethics and professionalism. He writes, “The and the community”? transformation of medicine and health care begins with a shift in our understanding of what it means to be a leader”— Leadership in medicine thus individual and personal change are requirements for Leadership in medicine, medical education, and health care organizational change. This principle of leadership from within is more complex in the twenty-first century than ever before. can be taught to those who aspire to become great leaders. Because of physicians’ unique knowledge in medicine and in our understanding of medicine’s core professional values, The professional values of medicine physicians are ideally suited to serve as leaders in these areas. Medicine is based on a covenant of trust, a contract we in Our professional experiences in serving and caring for people medicine have with patients and society. Medical professional- and working with teams in the health professions provide a ism stands on this foundation of trust to create an interlocking solid foundation for leadership. Physicians understand clini- structure among physicians, patients, educational and medical cal medicine and medical education, they embrace the vital institutions, and society that determines medicine’s values and importance of medical and scientific research, and they have responsibilities in the care of patients. Leadership in medicine earned respect for their contributions to caring for patients. and related organizations must be grounded in core profes- These integral parts of the professional life of a physician are sional beliefs and values, which start with an obligation and the values affirmed in the Medical Professionalism Charter commitment to serve and care for people, and these primary that frames the teaching of professionalism at the undergradu- tenets: 1) do no harm, and 2) treat others as you would like ate and graduate medical educational levels and emphasizes to be treated. The corollaries to these primary tenets include: the primary principles of patient welfare, patient autonomy, • Integrity and honesty: believe and do what is right. and social justice.1 • Loyalty and duty: hold to your values, commit to and ful- These professional values and the experiences physicians fill