Previous Spotlights

What does humanism in medicine mean to you?

I believe that humanism in medicine is being aware of the needs of your patients, and treating them like you would want someone in your family to be treated. I think if you put yourself in your patients’ position, rather than just thinking of them as the person in room X-123, we can really start to impact the community of people around us.

What is the most meaningful activity you have participated in during medical school that highlights what it means to be a humanistic future physician?

One of the most meaningful experiences I have had was during my time at the VMI clinic in Hilton Head, SC, a trip planned by the Amigos Medicos group. At this facility retired physicians volunteer their time to provide free health care to those without insurance. Seeing the dedication these physicians had for these patients even after they have retired was definitely something I will take with me into my career.

What are your current career interests?

Currently I am undecided about my specific career interest, but I have been leaning towards Radiology for the past year or so. I think it fits my personality really well.

Julie Weber
 

What does Humanism in Medicine mean to you?

To me, humanism is about providing support to others and to oneself.  When it comes to the phrase "humanism in medicine," I think the definition of humanism extends specifically to patients and colleagues, encompassing the four tenets of medical ethics, as well as inclusiveness, empathy, respect, honesty, and collaboration.  As a medical student in my pre-clinical years of study, I think about these aspects of humanism as they relate to my studies, my classmates, my role as a class representative, and my role as a care provider in student-coordinated medical clinics and as a participant in community events.

In my relatively short time as a member of Wayne State's medical community, I have seen humanism embodied by two physicians in ways specific to their roles and very motivating to me as I prepare to begin my clinical rotations.  The legendary Dr. Meza was my clin med instructor, and he had a knack for enhancing the curricular materials with some of his own.  A reading that he brought to class one day describes an elderly, hospitalized patient refusing to take insulin. A physician arrives, reflectively listens to the patient describe his fear of the physiological effects of overnight hypoglycemia, and suggests to him a lower dose and overnight glucose check. This results in the patient agreeing to insulin on the spot. Afterward, when the physician addresses a student observer, the student merely asserts that “apparently [the patient] had changed his mind before you came in.” Dr. Meza makes it clear, to the contrary, that there is a craft to interacting with patients that is subtle yet immensely meaningful.  This story reflects Dr. Meza's appreciation of empathy and respect; he also embodies so many of the qualities I described above as coming to mind when tasked with defining "humanism in medicine": inclusiveness and collaboration in dubbing all of us a "council of advisers" to each other; and honesty in being open and attentive, and assuring us that we can always ask him "anything".

I traveled with a second physician, Dr. Tremonti, who specializes in palliative care, to the home of a patient who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and told that there was nothing more to be offered from a medical perspective. Because the role of a palliative care physician is not always in medical intervention, we were visiting to discuss a variety of next steps toward helping that patient receive the most support possible as she approached the end of her life.  For this particular patient, offering support by way of a discussion about life, spirituality, and the possible effects of disease progression all seemed to be meaningful sources of comfort that Dr. Tremonti could indeed provide.  Her patience, respect, and empathy were all apparent during that visit, as was the fact that she values collaboration and inclusiveness, as a nurse and social worker (and me, a not-even-first-year-med-student) had also been invited to join in on the visit.

Both Dr. Meza and Dr. Tremonti - through the knowledge they impart to the way they seem to know exactly what each patient most needs - embody humanism in medicine and resemble the type of empathetic physician that I myself hope one day to be.

What is the most meaningful activity you have participated in during medical school which highlights what it means to be a humanistic future physician?

One of my favorite aspects of the Wayne State medical program is the unique and wildly extensive set of opportunities to participate in meaningful activities, both at school and within the Detroit community.  Cass Clinic provides one of these opportunities.  Cass is a once-weekly clinic here in midtown that cares for Detroit residents without health insurance. Together with one of last year's clinic coordinators Chris Sy, this year's coordinators and I have begun to offer flu shots at no cost to all of our patients.  Unfortunately, there is a common misconception among members of our patient community that the flu shot will cause them to develop the flu.  Knowing that this not the case with the killed vaccines we offer at Cass, I've been able to successfully counsel patients about the benefits of receiving an annual flu shot: (1) It would be like someone coming back from the dead for you to get the flu from the flu shot, (2) It's quick and easy, fairly painless, and FREE, and (3) You are protecting not only yourself but others in your community, because "if you can't get it, you can't spread it!"

Seeing patients in the waiting room start to consider the idea, some of them exclaiming, "Yeah, I think I'll go for it" to which others reply, "You're gonna do it?  Heck, I'll try it too" is quite the rewarding experience.  And I try to follow up after their shot by reminding them to let others in their community know about their experience; or, if they choose not to partake in a flu shot that day, I ask them to consider it once or twice between now and next month's visit.

Looking out for patients, families, and community members at Cass Clinic is a way to provide support to others, which to me is the essence of humanism.
 

What are your current career interests?

My primary career interest is in palliative medicine, which it turns out can follow any of 15+ different residency options! So while I'm keeping my mind open in terms of a specific direction, I do particularly enjoy working with children and older adults. 

Palliative care is admittedly an emotionally difficult field of medicine to practice, which is indeed my reason for continuing to explore and ensure it to be the right choice for me.  My view of palliative care is that it is a way to provide comfort to a family, like the one I visited with Dr. Tremonti, that doesn't see (or hasn't been told about) the possibility of any comfort on the horizon with respect to a chronic or terminal illness.  Thus, to me, palliative care is an ideal way to practice humanism as a career, and I look forward to the opportunity to help provide support to patients and families facing poor prognoses who feel as though comfort is unattainable.

Extra Plug

Because I am on the LCME Student Survey Committee, I want to make a little plug for the student effort toward LCME re-accreditation for our medical program.  The re-accreditation process is a way for our school to ensure that it is meeting national standards for providing medical education.  As students of this medical school, we all value the representation of our medical education and in turn the impression that our school makes on the medical community. However, we may also have concerns about our educational experiences.  The student survey that I am developing in collaboration with Rob Guglielmo, Jay Llaniguez, Osamuede Iyoha, and Lauren Wrona will give every student the opportunity to rate their experiences and provide constructive feedback to the administration, who themselves have shown to be very open to our collective suggestions. I took on this responsibility as a way to help ensure that students' concerns are addressed and that our medical school be recognized for the wonderful program that it is!  So I'm hoping we can get a lot of student support and participation at this important phase in the re-accreditation process.