DIVISION OF MEDICAL HUMANITIES | DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE
September 6, 2013
NEWS AND RESOURCES:
Creative Writing as a Medical Instrument
“The best medicine doesn’t work on the wrong story, and the stories patients tell sometimes feel like first
drafts—vital and fragile works-in-progress. Increasingly complex health challenges compounded by
social, financial, and psychological burdens make for stories that are difficult to articulate and
comprehend. [This essay argues] that healthcare providers need to think like creative writers and the skills
and sensitivities necessary to story construction deserve a vital space in medical education.”
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10912-013-9243-7/fulltext.html (Article also attached as PDF)
When Med Students Get Medical Students’ Disease
“‘Medical students’ disease’ refers to the phenomenon in which medical students notice something
innocuous about their health and then attach to it exaggerated significance. It often corresponds to a
disease they have recently learned about in lectures or encountered on the wards… How did medical
students’ disease get discovered? And does it really exist?”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/when-med-students-get-medical-students-disease/?_r=1
Left Brain, Right Brain
“Maybe you're ‘right-brained’: creative, artistic, an open-minded thinker who perceives things in
subjective terms. Or perhaps you're more of a ‘left-brained’ person, where you're analytical, good at tasks
that require attention to detail, and more logically minded. It turns out, though, that this idea of ‘brainedness’ might be more of a figure of speech than anything, as researchers have found that these personality
traits may not have anything to do with which side of the brain you use more.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/right-brain-left-brain-debunked_n_3762322.html
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0071275
OPPORTUNITIES:
Fall 2013 Humanistic Medicine Seminars
The Fall 2013 Humanistic Medicine Seminars—offered by the Master Scholars Program in Humanistic
Medicine (MSPHM) at NYU School of Medicine—include Art and Anatomy, Health and Poverty,
Literature and Addiction, Writing From the Inside Out, and CHEF: Cook Healthy, Eat Fresh. Unless
otherwise noted, the seminars are open to the entire NYU community. For full seminar descriptions, visit:
http://school.med.nyu.edu/humanisticmed/seminars
The Narrative Bridge: Connecting through the Health Humanities
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) will host “The Narrative Bridge” conference
February 23-25, 2014 in Charleston, South Carolina. They seek “abstracts that describe innovative
applications for the health humanities, particularly those that foster interprofessionalism, enhance
institutional culture, engage the community, or otherwise promote the humanities as a means to humility
and inclusivity.” Abstracts due October 1st; see attached flyer for details.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND CONFERENCES:
Hospice Ethics Symposium
Tuesday, September 10 | Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 107 E 70th Street, New York, NY 10021
Course Directors: Arthur L. Caplan, PhD and Timothy W. Kirk, PhD
Course Description: Hospice care is one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. healthcare system, a
trend that is expected to accelerate as the median age of the population continues to rise over the next
three decades. This one-day symposium, jointly sponsored by the NYU Post-Graduate Medical School
and VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care with the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical
Center offers clinicians, administrators, and others an opportunity to learn about, reflect upon, and
develop capacities to address some of the ways in which giving and receiving hospice care opens up
questions of value and meaning. Register online at: http://cme.med.nyu.edu/hospice
Book Signing: Francine Mary Netter on “Medicine’s Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank Netter”
Wednesday, September 18, 4 pm | NYU Langone Medical Center, Smilow Multi-Purpose Conference
Room.
Pease RSVP by Friday, September 13 to Francine Mele at Francine.mele@nyumc.org.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the NYU School of Medicine Office of Alumni Relations
will host this special event commemorating the life and work of one of NYU School of Medicine’s most
distinguished alumni: Frank H. Netter, MD, Class of 1931. Francine Mary Netter, daughter of Dr. Netter,
has written a new biography on the illustrious career of her late father titled Medicine's Michelangelo:
The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD. On Wednesday, September 18, at 4 pm the author will join us
at NYU Langone Medical Center for a book signing and wine and cheese reception in the Smilow MultiPurpose Conference Room. Books will be available for purchase.
During his long career, Dr. Netter distinguished himself as the finest medical illustrator of his
time, and arguably of any time. Upon graduation from medical school, Dr. Netter completed a surgical
internship at Bellevue Hospital Center but quickly shifted the focus of his medical career to include his
first passion: the visual arts. He embarked on a remarkable career and became world-renowned for his
accurate and vivid work. Dr. Netter produced nearly 4,000 illustrations, which have been included in
countless publications, including the definitive Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy. In 2013, a new
medical school that bears his name opened its doors: the Frank H. Netter, MD, School of Medicine at
Quinnipiac University is a testament of his legacy in the field of medicine.
Danielle Ofri, MD – Author of What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine
Tuesday, September 24, 6pm - 7:30pm | NYU Bookstore, 726 Broadway
http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2013/08/22/nyu-bookstore-to-feature-what-doctorsfeel-author-danielle-ofri-sept-24.html
“The stories in Ofri's book reveal the undeniable truth that emotions have a distinct effect on how doctors
care for their patients. For both clinicians and patients, understanding what doctors feel can make all the
difference in giving and getting the best medical care, curing as well as healing.
Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of
Medicine and a physician at Bellevue Hospital. She is the author of Singular Intimacies: Becoming a
Doctor at Bellevue, Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine, and Medicine
in Translation: Journeys with My Patients. Ofri is a regular contributor to the New York Times’ Well blog
as well as its Science Times section.”
UNKNOWABLE, UNSPEAKABLE and UNSPRUNG: Navigating the thrill and danger of living
amidst truth, fantasy and privacy
Saturday, October 5, 8:30am -8:00pm
Location: Mt. Sinai Medical Center & The NY Academy of Medicine
Keynotes by ADAM PHILLIPS & ANDREW SOLOMON
An extensive panel of prominent analysts and invited guests “attempt[s] to put words, thoughts, and
feelings to the unknown, the unspoken and the unsprung.” Sponsored by the The William Alanson White
Institute, a psychoanalytic training facility founded in 1943 and incorporated under the New York
Education Law in 1946 as a not-for-profit educational corporation. The Institute trains psychiatrists,
psychologists, and social workers, as well as selected professionals in other disciplines, in the theory and
practice of psychoanalysis and offers courses in essential psychoanalytic concepts to individuals in other
disciplines who wish to extend their skills and understanding in their own professions. It also provides
clinical services and outreach programs to a wide range of populations in New York City and surrounding
communities.
http://tinyurl.com/bc5bjt4
Bellevue Literary Review Reading
Sunday, October 20, 5pm, Bellevue Hospital Rotunda
Free and open to the public.
The reading will celebrate the BLR’s upcoming fall issue; featured readers include poets Tom Sleigh and
Monica Wendel, and writers Katherine Lien Chariott and Susan Land. A unique contribution to both
literature and medicine, the BLR publishes works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that touch upon
relationships to illness, health and healing.
http://blr.med.nyu.edu/news/events
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