November 19, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Narrative Medicine: Addressing the Challenges of Medical Education,
Physician Renewal, Effective Patient Care and EHRs”
The program featured Dr. Rita Charon, a National and International figure who addressed
a number of significant issues confronting medical practice. Her lecture was complemented by readings of poetry and narrative prose, a violin recital, a book signing, as well as a "Celebratory Dinner" with the speaker.
a number of significant issues confronting medical practice. Her lecture was complemented by readings of poetry and narrative prose, a violin recital, a book signing, as well as a "Celebratory Dinner" with the speaker.
Rita Charon, M.D., PhD., is Professor of Clinical Medicine, and Director and Founder of the
Program in Narrative Medicine at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She
received her M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School, a Fellowship in General Internal
Medicine from Presbyterian Hospital and a Master’s Degree followed by a Ph.D. in English
Literature from Columbia University.
Program in Narrative Medicine at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She
received her M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School, a Fellowship in General Internal
Medicine from Presbyterian Hospital and a Master’s Degree followed by a Ph.D. in English
Literature from Columbia University.
Dr. Charon has served as editor-in-chief of Literature and Medicine and has published articles in a wide variety of journals including: the NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, Neurology, Academic Medicine, and the Annals of Internal Medicine. She has contributed several book chapters and authored several books, including: Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness, NY: Oxford University Press.
In keeping with the Osler Society's mission as "A Crossroads of Medicine and the Arts" guests were welcomed by a violin recital from Dr. Isidore Horowitz, a practicing internist, who also treated the audience to a brief explanation about human auditory perception of music.
Following this, Hal Sirowitz, a former American Poet Laureate read selections from two of his books "Mother Said" and "Father Said", and recited a touching poem about Parkinson's disease which will be included in one of his future anthologies.
After Dr. Charon's talk and the question and answer period, there was a moving and dramatic recital of poetry written and delivered by Dr. Lucien Nochomovitz, a practicing pathologist and Vice-Chair at NSUH.
Concluding the evening's presentation on Narrative Medicine, Melanie Mund, a third year medical student read an inspirational story about Sir William Osler from Bliss' biography. It described Osler's loving care of a sick child, exemplifying the healing art of medicine "in its finest flower".
This was followed with book signings by Dr. Charon and Hal Sirowitz and "Celebratory Dinner" at the Inn at Great Neck.
In keeping with the Osler Society's mission as "A Crossroads of Medicine and the Arts" guests were welcomed by a violin recital from Dr. Isidore Horowitz, a practicing internist, who also treated the audience to a brief explanation about human auditory perception of music.
Following this, Hal Sirowitz, a former American Poet Laureate read selections from two of his books "Mother Said" and "Father Said", and recited a touching poem about Parkinson's disease which will be included in one of his future anthologies.
After Dr. Charon's talk and the question and answer period, there was a moving and dramatic recital of poetry written and delivered by Dr. Lucien Nochomovitz, a practicing pathologist and Vice-Chair at NSUH.
Concluding the evening's presentation on Narrative Medicine, Melanie Mund, a third year medical student read an inspirational story about Sir William Osler from Bliss' biography. It described Osler's loving care of a sick child, exemplifying the healing art of medicine "in its finest flower".
This was followed with book signings by Dr. Charon and Hal Sirowitz and "Celebratory Dinner" at the Inn at Great Neck.
October 20, 2009 at 6:00 pm
"Gifted Hands: America’s Most Significant Contributions to Surgery".
A lecture, book-signing and “Celebratory Dinner “ with Dr. Seymour Schwartz, world renowned surgeon and author of Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery, the textbook used in medical schools, which continues as a standard reference work for surgeons in practice. Initially published in 1969, this textbook has gone through seven editions and translations, selling over 500,000 copies and is reminiscent of Osler’s Principles and Practice of Medicine, which was published from 1892 to the 1940s.
Dr. Schwartz has served as Distinguished Alumni Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons, as well as President of the College. Dr. Schwartz is widely regarded as a "Renaissance man", being equally renowned as an expert historian in cartography and author of several books on the subject, including "Putting America on the Map: The Story of the Most Important Graphic Document in the History of the United States”. He has served on the board of directors of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, and on the board of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. It comes as no surprise that he has often been referred to as "the best known person in American surgery."
His latest book, Gifted Hands, adds one more work to his distinguished output. It is a romantic and insightful look at surgery and surgeons in America, from pre-Colombian and colonial times to the present day. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Faculty Neurosurgeon at Emory Clinic, and Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN, has commented, "Surgery has had a rough and sometimes gritty past, but it was always hopeful, and that message runs through loud and clear in Gifted Hands. There is no question that this is a book about heroes. They are compassionate intellectuals who forever changed the course of our medical history. Make no mistake; Seymour Schwartz is one of them".
As people entered the auditorium for the lecture, they were greeted by the piano virtuoso of Dr. Michael Errico, an orthopedist with "Gifted Hands", who is on staff at NSUH, SFH, and the Hospital for Special Surgery.
A "Celebratory Dinner" was held at the Feinstein Institute, where Dr. Errico treated the audience to a piano recital and there was an opportunity for a further exchange with Dr. Schwartz.
As people entered the auditorium for the lecture, they were greeted by the piano virtuoso of Dr. Michael Errico, an orthopedist with "Gifted Hands", who is on staff at NSUH, SFH, and the Hospital for Special Surgery.
A "Celebratory Dinner" was held at the Feinstein Institute, where Dr. Errico treated the audience to a piano recital and there was an opportunity for a further exchange with Dr. Schwartz.
The event was attended by physicians, their spouses, family members and friends, in addition to
members of the general public.
September 22, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
"Possible Connection Between The Tuberculosis Epidemic Of The 1800’s
and Our Present Epidemic Of The Metabolic Syndrome"
"Possible Connection Between The Tuberculosis Epidemic Of The 1800’s
and Our Present Epidemic Of The Metabolic Syndrome"
A lecture and “Celebratory Dinner” with Dr. Jesse Roth, Professor of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who began his distinguished career as a Fellow, working under Nobel Prize Laureate, Roslyn Yalow. Dr. Roth later served for over two decades in a leadership capacity at the National Institutes of Health and for a time as Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service. Following this, Dr. Roth was appointed Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging. He is a past-president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and has won numerous honors and awards, including several honorary doctorates. Dr. Roth has published more than 400 articles, some of which have been declared "citation classics" and he has been listed by Current Content as "one of the most cited authors" on multiple occasions.
With 2009 marking the 200th Anniversary of Darwin’s birth, Dr. Roth gave a fascinating lecture on his "Darwinian-like" hypothesis as to how the epidemic of tuberculosis in the 19th century might have evolved into the epidemic of obesity and the metabolic syndrome in the latter half of the 20th century. In June 2009, JAMA published his very scholarly article on the subject as a three page Commentary.
During the lecture, he pointed out how in the 19th Century, tuberculosis the "white plague," killed an estimated 100 million people. Some famous people diagnosed with tuberculosis included: Voltaire, Goethe, Keats, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Edgar Allen Poe, Paganini, Chopin, Kafka, George Orwell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Gaugin, Modigliani, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant, Florence Nightingale, as well as Rene Laennec, the great French physician and inventor of the stethoscope.
To highlight the tragedy of tuberculosis and in keeping with the spirit of the Osler Society as
"A Crossroads of Medicine, the Arts, Humanism and Ethics", the audience was entertained
by a live piano recital of Chopin ( who died of TB ) and by live performances of operatic music
from La Boheme and La Traviata, sung by soprano, Anne Tormela. She performed the famous
aria in which the heroine and central character, Mimi, sings her swan song before dying of "consumption" (TB)
"A Crossroads of Medicine, the Arts, Humanism and Ethics", the audience was entertained
by a live piano recital of Chopin ( who died of TB ) and by live performances of operatic music
from La Boheme and La Traviata, sung by soprano, Anne Tormela. She performed the famous
aria in which the heroine and central character, Mimi, sings her swan song before dying of "consumption" (TB)
The lecture and recitals were followed by a "Celebratory Dinner", with the opportunity for further discussion and commentary, as well as additional musical performances. With regard to 2009 being the 200th Anniversary of Darwin's birth, it was pointed out during the discussion, that Osler's father would have served on Darwin's ship, the Beagle, were it not for his need to return home to England because of his mother's illness. The audience was also reminded that Sir William Osler became one of the founders of the National Tuberculous Association and even served as the very first Vice-President of this organization.
