|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bards of Baylorby Ross Tomlin
"I could have hugged him," said Fann, professor of pharmacology and medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. "Here was the most experienced physician in the entire world, teaching these young doctors about poetry and sharing its importance in his own life." "Elegy" holds special meaning for DeBakey, who found solace in it late one night as he struggled to cope with the death of a patient. In class, Fann often cites the ancient Persian ode The Rubaiyat. One of the poem's images—a potter delicately molding his clay—evokes an indelible analogy to the art of surgery that some in the class hope to master one day. "'True wit is nature to advantage dress'd,/What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd," Fann, quoting another popular poet, Alexander Pope, explains. "The poet writes with astonishing sensitivity those things we think about all the time but are seldom able to articulate quite as well." Fann has offered his poetry elective to enthralled BCM students for longer than he can remember, but it wasn't until 2003 that he proposed to DeBakey that the college sponsor a national poetry contest exclusively for medical students. The idea resonated deeply with the illustrious chancellor emeritus. Since then, the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Student Poetry Award decrees each year's medical student poet laureate. The top three poets receive monetary awards, underwritten by The DeBakey Medical Foundation. The first place winner's entry has been published for the past two years in the medical journal JAMA. Nearly two hundred lyrically minded medical students have submitted original works each year. F. Charles Brunicardi, M.D., chair of BCM's Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, and a published poet in his own right, is not surprised by the contest's popularity. "Beyond their vigorous study habits, many of them have creative outlets and a love of poetry," he said. The 2005 Winnersun poco mosso, by Daniel Ma In the words of Dr. DeBakey, "For those who read and enjoy poetry, it can nourish the soul, and the soul of the physician needs nourishment to cushion the grim realities of life and death encountered daily. Like all good literature, poetry discloses much about the human condition and its vicissitudes and encourages compassion, an essential component of the physician's competence. Poetry also teaches discipline, for it requires the compression of ideas or feelings into a few carefully chosen words or images. I encourage all medical students who have not discovered the beauty of poetry to explore its various forms and enjoy the kind that appeals to them." |
Patient CareA New Medical School for Botswana ResearchStars and Workhorses: A Varied Future for Stem Cells Unfolding the Tiniest Problems EducationCommunity ServiceAlumni & DevelopmentThe Story Behind the Jewish Building From a One-Room School to Medical Research College News
|
||
Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2006 |
|||
 |
|
BCM Home | BCM Intranet | Privacy Notices | Contact BCM | BCM Site Map © 2005-8 Baylor College of Medicine® |
|
| Last modified: April 6, 2006 |
When William Fann, M.D., invited Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., to lead one of his poetry elective classes, he assumed that the father of modern cardiovascular surgery could spare only a few minutes. Instead, DeBakey "took complete command of the classroom" for the remainder of the period, explicating each verse of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" with the same surgical precision that helped him revolutionize the treatment of heart patients.