Annual Compassion and the Art of Medicine series begins at BCM

HOUSTON -- (August 6, 2008) -- The annual Compassion and the Art of Medicine series hosted by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston will begin Friday, Aug. 15.

The series is free and open to the public although seating is limited. The first 200 guests will receive complimentary brown bag lunches. All presentations begin at noon, followed by a question-and-answer session at 1 p.m.

BCM's department of family and community medicine presents the series with a grant from The Community Hospital Foundation, Inc.

The 2008 series includes:

"Medicine and Human Rights in the Global Era: Empowering People through Sustainable Health in the Developing World" – Geoffrey Preidis (Aug. 15, Cullen Auditorium) A graduate of Harvard University, Preidis is currently an MD/PhD candidate at BCM, where he devotes his clinical and laboratory work to fighting infectious diseases. He co-founded and serves as president of Health Empowering Humanity, a non-profit organization, and has been working in rural Haiti since 2001 to provide health care for the poor.
"Helen Keller Revisited: A Journey from Darkness to Light" – Dr. Rubina Khan and Dr. Fareed Khan (Aug. 22, Cullen Auditorium) Rubina, who completed her residency training in pediatrics at BCM, and Fareed, who currently serves as Program Director of the BAYLOR-Harris County Family Medicine Residency Program, will discuss their experiences as parents of Tania, a child who is deaf-blind.
"Mozart: The Music and Mind of a Genius" – Dr. Richard Kogan (Aug. 29, Cullen Auditorium) A graduate of Juilliard, Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Kogan has distinguished careers both as a psychiatrist and as a concert pianist. He has been praised by the NY Times for his "exquisite, eloquent and compelling playing," and the Boston Globe wrote that "Kogan has somehow managed to excel at the world's two most demanding professions." Kogan returns for the sixth consecutive year.
"Nurturing the Spirit of the Healer" – Dr. Warren Holleman (Oct. 10, McMillian Auditorium) This special program is the 2007 Matthew Carter Memorial Lecture and is co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs and Student Connections.
For the past 20 years, Holleman has served as founder and director of Compassion and the Art of Medicine, a program that has served as a model for medical humanities programs for several medical and nursing schools. His seminar has been presented in 26 cities throughout the country.

The Matthew Carter Memorial Lecture was established in memory of a first-year BCM medical student killed in September 2000. The lecture carries on his message of compassion and caring to successive generations of medical students and health professionals. The annual lecture features individuals in the health care field who dedicate their careers to helping the less fortunate of the world.
Oct. 17, McMillian Auditorium "The Light Within: The Extraordinary Friendship of a Doctor and Patient Brought Together by Cancer" – Dr. Lois Ramondetta An attending physician and associate professor of gynecologic oncology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Ramondetta chronicles her relationship with Deborah Rose Sills, a patient with ovarian cancer.

Dr. Michelle Schmidt, assistant professor of medicine and founder of the Adolescent Clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital, will discuss her experiences as a patient with breast cancer.

After a long battle with cancer, Dr. Stephen Pierrel, a psychologist with the Houston Fire Department and a faculty member of the department of family and community medicine, died on August 7, 2008. This lecture is dedicated to him.
"The Wisdom of WIT" – Megan Cole (Nov. 7, Cullen Auditorium) In 1995, Cole originated the leading role in Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "WIT," about a woman dying of ovarian cancer. For her performance, she won the L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Award. Cole will present her solo version of the play.
Radio Music Theatre (Nov. 14, Cullen Auditorium) Steve Farrell, Vicki Farrell and Rich Mills, the Southwest's best-known comedy team, return to BCM for the tenth time to remind us that, for many of life's ailments, laughter is the best medicine.
"Waiting with Gabriel: A Story of Cherishing a Baby's Brief Life" – Amy Kuebelbeck and Annette Klein (Nov. 21, Cullen Auditorium) Co-sponsored by the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at BCM A former reporter and editor for The Associated Press, Kuebelbeck describes her experience of continuing a pregnancy with a terminal prenatal diagnosis in her memoir. Together with Klein, a perinatal loss coordinator, they will discuss practical, compassionate ways to offer support for this often overlooked patient population, including the innovative concept of perinatal hospice.