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A newsletter from the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Langone Health
March 25, 2022

Musical Expressions of the Hippocratic Oath

This Arts and Medicine feature, by Zeno Schmid and Axel Karenberg, MD, reintroduces two modernist classical music pieces composed in the 1980s for physician audiences that express key themes from the Oath of Hippocrates.

A Poem (and a Painting) About the Suffering That Hides in Plain Sight

"About suffering they were never wrong..." Elisa Gabbert examines the intricacies of W.H. Auden's classic poem, "Musée des Beaux Arts." (Shown above: detail from “Landscape With the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder)

At the Crossroads of Arts and Medicine: A Conversation with Dr. Rita Charon

Dr. Rita Charon, executive director of Columbia Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, discusses how the practice of narrative medicine benefits both patients and healthcare providers, and what she hopes for the future of the field.

Humanism in Healthcare Research Roundup

The Gold Foundation's latest Jeffrey Silver Humanism in Healthcare Research Roundup highlights articles about patients’ perspectives on medical student professionalism, a workshop to teach physicians about public narrative and community organizing, the importance of waiting room media, the impact of COVID-19 on professional identity, and more.

Highlights from Projects and People in
Humanities and Ethics at NYU Langone Health

New Annotation:
Sebastian Galbo on Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt

"There is much in Tangles that might offer solace to current (or former) caregivers who struggle to give loved ones with Alzheimer’s a quality, dignified end-of-life experience.”

Samuel Shem, MD on how can we put the connection back into medicine

Dr. Samuel Shem, author of The House of God, Man's 4th Best Hospital, and other titles, and professor in the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Langone, discusses humanity and healthcare on The Podcast by KevinMD.





The Burns Archive Photo of the Week
 

Measuring the Brains of US Congressmen and Senators, 1926


What seems today an outlandish episode in governmental psychological studies is the work of Dr. Arthur MacDonald (1856-1936), a Washington, DC experimental psychologist. In 1926, Senator Royal Copeland introduced a bill authorizing MacDonald to measure the brains of US Congressmen and Senators. Senator Copeland, a notable New York physician, supported MacDonald's work, stating that it was necessary to have "anthropological, psycho-physical, and statistical" examinations of members of both houses. The weight of the politicians' brains would be determined through head measurement, and under the bill would be made public without naming the legislators. Unofficially, MacDonald had already examined 75 Congressional Representatives and 25 Senators.
       This 1926 photograph of Dr. Arthur MacDonald using his brain-measuring device on a United States Congressman is vivid evidence of the government's interest in determining policies toward those who were considered to be 'mentally defective.' MacDonald's experiments may seem wild to audiences today; however, there is value to be found in outmoded and discredited therapies or ideologies. MacDonald did have a substantial background in experimental psychology and, in 1893, was among the second group of eminent members to join The American Psychological Association. MacDonald published dozens of books, papers, and essays. As a typical government scientist of his era, he relied on government funding authorized by special congressional legislation. He describes himself (in a book given to psychiatrist-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Adolf Meyers, MD) as a "Specialist in anthropological psychiatry in the Government Hospital for the Insane."

With thanks to The Burns Archive for providing historic medical photographs and commentary for this weekly feature

 

Quick Links

Calls for Submission & Other Opportunities

The Nocturnists Call for Stories: "Together Again"
The Nocturnists is thrilled to announce that they are planning their first live performance since before the pandemic to take place in San Francisco in June 2022. The exact date and venue are TBD.
      They are looking for stories related to the theme “TOGETHER AGAIN” — stories about separations, rifts, reunifications, gatherings, connections, and more. Feel free to interpret the theme as concretely or abstractly as you like. Stories do not have to be COVID-related, though you're free to talk about COVID if you like. Deadline April 3, 2022. More information.

Director, Division of Social Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center
The Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons is seeking a national/international leader in Social Medicine to assume the position of Associate Professor/Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics and of Director of the Division of Social Medicine in the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics. Learn more and apply.

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Events & Conferences

MAR
30

Voices in the Band: A Doctor, Her Patients, and How the Outlook on AIDS Care Changed from Doomed to Hopeful

MAR
31

WIT: A play-reading in conversation with terminal illness, palliative care, and the poetry of John Donne

APR
6

Narrative Medicine Rounds - "ONE FRIDAY IN APRIL: A Story of Suicide and Survival"

A conversation with Donald Antrim moderated by Dr. Michael Devlin
APR
8-
10

Narrative Medicine Spring Basic Workshop

A virtual workshop and online course hosted by the Columbia University Division of Narrative Medicine. Discounted tuition for those who sign up by March 25th. Registration will end on April 1st.
APR
11-
14

A Crisis of Caring: The Humanities and Our Health

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to consider the ways that knowledge drawn from humanities disciplines and methodologies can inform and help address the ongoing crisis in healthcare.
MAY
4-8

Mindful Practice in Medicine Core Workshop

A retreat-like workshop designed to energize your clinical work while helping you find joy and resilience, through honing your self-awareness and deep listening skills that are keys to navigating stressful and demanding situations you face daily.
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