Jefferson Humanities & Health

Wednesday, January 8, Connelly Auditorium, Hamilton Building. 5-6PM. Dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

Second-year medical student Kishan Patel shares his cancer journey in this candid lecture and conversation event. Cancer isn’t something that starts and finishes, it’s something that you live with. My message is that patients are humans, too. Treating patients like humans will make them want to be treated and come back to see you. It will help build the patient-clinician relationship that we hear about in the curriculum but aren’t really taught how to encourage. Ever since I was diagnosed and went through cancer, I’ve had a more positive outlook in life. I hope that by sharing my perspective and experience, it will encourage others to have a more positive outlook, too, especially in professional/graduate school when life is already hard.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Thursday, January 9, 12-1PM, Hamilton 224/225. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

Bring your notes and ideas about the Humanities programs you have attended so far during this academic year. Leave with fresh ideas about how you might turn your impressions into thoughtful, creative reflections as you complete your Asano portfolio. We will focus mostly on written reflections, but will also touch on other forms of creative response to the events, topics, and experiences you have been collecting as an Asano candidate. You will leave this workshop with examples of concise essays and poems that might inspire your own reflections. We will also discuss how a reflective practice could help you grow and thrive throughout your career as a healthcare professional.

Led by Shawn Gonzalez, PhD, Assistant Director for Writing Services, Office of Academic & Career Success. 

Students who have already taken the August 27th session or the September 26, 2024 of this class are not eligible to receive Asano Humanities & Health Certificate credit for this class.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, January 13, JAH 207, 5-6:30PM. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

Join us for this important talk by Dr. Sal Mangione in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz the horror of the Shoah remains as haunting to mankind as ever, as indicated by countless books, documentaries, and monographs dedicated to the subject. Recent attention has gradually shifted away from “perpetrators” and focused instead on the “rescuers” – those few courageous souls who chose to risk their lives so that others could live. As the epitome of altruism for the betterment of mankind one would expect physicians to have been both rescuers and resisters during the Holocaust. Yet, German doctors were the most nazified profession in Hitler’s Reich, with every second male physician becoming a party member. In fact, many were perpetrators who not only provided “scientific” legitimization and manpower to domestic campaigns of sterilization and euthanasia, but who themselves participated in pseudo-scientific experiments on concentration camp prisoners. Hence, the need to revisit the topic.

Content Advisory: This presentation features photographs depicting graphic images of war and death.

Speaker:

SALVATORE MANGIONE, MD is an Professor of Medicine at the SKMC of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where he also directs the Humanities and History of Medicine courses. He is a clinician-educator with a long interest in physical diagnosis, medical history, community service and the role of the humanities in medicine. His innovative programs and engaging teaching style have been recognized by multiple teaching awards, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, CNN, NPR, and Forbes. Dr. Mangione has also been involved in asthma education, creating (and directing for six years) The AsthmaBUS™, a red doubledecker he bought in London in 1999, shipped to Philadelphia, and eventually outfitted so to provide asthma education and screening for 15,000 middle-school children. For this he received the 2001 American Institute of Architects Award for most innovative exhibit, the 2003 World Asthma Day community service award from Philadelphia, and the 2004 Governors Community Service Award by the Chest Foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Mangione has been an invited speaker at many national and international meetings, especially in regard to the use of visual arts for the teaching of observation. He's the author of the book Secrets in Physical Diagnosis and the recipient of the 2022 Nicholas E. Davies Memorial Scholar Award of the American College of Physicians for Scholarly Activities in History of Medicine and the Humanities.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, January 13, JAH 207, 6:30 - 8PM. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

We live in times when physicians seem to have been debased to mere technicians -- or even worse ‘providers of medical services’, with patients being in turn reduced to ‘consumers’. Such debasement of the sacred patient-physician relationship has robbed us of a rich tradition that for centuries made medicine the profession of eclectic individuals capable of contributing to society through much more than stethoscopes and scalpels. Hence, this presentation will prompt reflection on "doctoring" and its responsibilities -- issues that have been rendered even more timely by the coronavirus pandemic. It's therefore a talk on professional identity, prompted in part by the ongoing debate about what it means being a 'Doctor' or, at least, what it ought to mean. This debate was started by the September 2019 Op-Ed piece published by Dr. Goldfarb in the Wall Street Journal (“Take Two Aspirin and Call Me by My Pronouns”), which eventually led to a ‘perspective’ Dr. Mangione published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 22, 2021.

Speaker:

SALVATORE MANGIONE, MD is a Professor of Medicine at the SKMC of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where he also directs the Humanities and History of Medicine courses. He is a clinician-educator with a long interest in physical diagnosis, medical history, community service and the role of the humanities in medicine. His innovative programs and engaging teaching style have been recognized by multiple teaching awards, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, CNN, NPR, and Forbes. Dr. Mangione has also been involved in asthma education, creating (and directing for six years) The AsthmaBUS™, a red doubledecker he bought in London in 1999, shipped to Philadelphia, and eventually outfitted so to provide asthma education and screening for 15,000 middle-school children. For this he received the 2001 American Institute of Architects Award for most innovative exhibit, the 2003 World Asthma Day community service award from Philadelphia, and the 2004 Governors Community Service Award by the Chest Foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Mangione has been an invited speaker at many national and international meetings, especially in regard to the use of visual arts for the teaching of observation. He's the author of the book Secrets in Physical Diagnosis and the recipient of the 2022 Nicholas E. Davies Memorial Scholar Award of the American College of Physicians for Scholarly Activities in History of Medicine and the Humanities.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Tuesday, January 14, Scott Memorial Library 200A, 12-1PM. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Join us for a a discussion of excerpts from these two seminal essays by novelist, essayist, and critic Susan Sontag.

In 1978, Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as “one of the most liberating books of its time.” A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is—just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment; and it is highly curable, if good treatment is followed.

Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic.

These two essays now published together, Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors, have been translated into many languages and continue to have an enormous influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.

Access the reading here.

Copies of Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors will be available for students after the discussion.

Facilitator: Katherine Hubbard, MA, Teaching Instructor, JeffMD Humanities Selectives, Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

About the Health Humanities Reading Group:

The Health Humanities Reading Group gathers regularly to think critically about health as it is understood through various disciplinary perspectives, social contexts and value systems. This ongoing program is open to students, faculty and staff, and offers an informal learning environment facilitated by participants. Participants are expected to read, and come prepared to discuss, the text selected for each session.

Wednesday, January 22, BLSB 105, 12-1PM. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

A microaggression is an unintentional and unconscious action that can negatively affect our day-to-day human interactions. They cause real harm to individuals. There is a large amount of evidence that it can be a major factor in the creation of disparities in the healthcare environment that can ultimately lead to patient-care disparities. In this session, we will define microaggressions, its documented effects in medicine, the concept of silent collusion, and the steps one can take to disarm the effects of microaggression.

At the end of the session, the attendees will be able to

• Define microaggressions.
• Give two examples of how microaggressions affect the patient care environment.
• Define “silent collusion.”
• Name at least three techniques to address a witnessed microaggression.

Facilitator: Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University.

Participants who have already attended the session on October 14, 2024 will not be eligible to count this session towards the Asano Humanities & Health Certificate or the Anti-Racism in Health Focus twice.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, January 27, Hamilton 210/211, 5-6:30PM. Dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Reconnecting

Research has shown that our relationships with ourselves, others, and nature have a profound impact on physical health and psychological well-being. In this in-person workshop, we will use the arts to explore ways of building and maintaining this all-important sense of connection. Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC and Sondra Rosenberg, ATR-BC. A light dinner will be served.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, January 29, 12-1PM, BLSB 105. Dinner provided. Open to students, faculty, and staff.

Every person has a story. In this candid conversation series, we’ll talk with community members about their real experiences at the intersection of healthcare, wellbeing and identity. Each guest brings unique insights and expertise into problems of health that span social and clinical dimensions, and engage questions of access, equity and justice. Sessions will be led by an interprofessional team of Jefferson student moderators and include interactive Q&A with attendees.

Special guest: Pastor R. Shawn Edmonds

Join us for a discussion on Black men's mental health with Pastor R. Shawn Edmonds.

R. Shawn Edmonds stands as a thought-provoking visionary, driven by a fervent commitment to helping others uncover and fulfill their life's purpose. As a dynamic figure in the faith community, he actively challenges the conventional norms that often hinder personal growth and impede the journey toward a brighter future. His leadership embodies progress and innovation.

With an unwavering dedication to empowerment, R. Shawn is resolute in his mission to equip those under his guidance. As the Lead Pastor of Capacity Church, nestled in Germantown, he embraces the privilege of leading individuals toward unlocking their full potential and exploring boundless possibilities.

Beyond his pastoral role, R. Shawn is a serial entrepreneur within the expansive Edmonds Enterprises. This multifaceted venture encompasses real estate, culinary endeavors, apparel, and technology services. Regardless of the capacity in which he serves, his authentic nature and profound passion shine through in every endeavor and interaction.

Community Voices is presented by the Jefferson College of Population Health, the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice & Education, and Jefferson Humanities & Health.

Questions? Please contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, February 5, BLSB 105, 12-1PM. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students.

We are excited to announce a follow-up meeting for the impactful Microaggressions: An Implicit Factor in Suboptimal Human Interactions sessions led by Dr. Bernard Lopez that will be facilitated by second-year medical students and Asano Anti-Racism in Health Focus Student Liaisons Mat Rodriguez and Obehioye Isesele.

This session will build on the discussions and insights from the initial workshop, fostering continued growth and collaboration in addressing microaggressions in healthcare, and highlight tools to combat microaggression. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue and actionable change!

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Thursday, February 6, 12-1PM, Hamilton 224/225. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

We all have a soundtrack that marks the many chapters of our lives. Teaching artist Josh Robinson will facilitate a reflection through your musical past, your stories, and the role music has played throughout your life. The workshop uses music as a vehicle to help participants connect to others and reconnect to themselves. Participants will be guided to reflect on the meaning of various songs in their lives and how music has helped them through both positive and negative experiences.

About the facilitator

Josh Robinson is a professional percussionist, teaching artist, and drum facilitator. He has been a visiting instructor in the Humanities at Thomas Jefferson University for the past four years and is in his second year as the Humanities artist-in-residence. For the past 19 years, Josh has used his skills, expertise, and life experience to share drumming and the many gifts it brings with thousands of people each year around the country. Learn more about Josh at joshrobinsondrums.com.

This program is open to Jefferson students, faculty and staff of all colleges and programs.

Students who attended the Soundtrack to Your Life session on November 12, 2024 for Asano credit are not eligible to count this event for Asano credit.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, February 12, BLSB 15, 5-6:30PM. Dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

How do you know when someone is confused by what you've just said? How do you tell when someone is angry? How do you know when YOU are confused or angry? Albert Mehrabian, a researcher of body language, first broke down the components of a face-to-face conversation and found that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% vocal, and 7% words only. Over 90% of how you communicate has nothing to do with what you say.

In current cultures we tend to focus a lot on the words that we say, the facts we know, the arguments we've cultivated. This workshop harnesses our attention to address the other 90% -- how can you know more about the non-intellectual, qualitative impact you're having on someone else, and how can you make adjustments to the ways you communicate non-verbally to deepen trust, foster confidence, invite more disclosure, and even enjoy connecting with others, even over a brief time.

At the end of the session, the attendees will be able to

• Identify common emotional states and how they appear on various bodies.

• Witness and analyze various non-verbal signals (including posture, gesture, vocal tension) to determine what stories they may tell

• Gain awareness of what emotional states may exist in their bodies and how to name and identify them

• Name at least three techniques to adjust non-verbal communication to increase desired outcomes.

Facilitator: Emme Kennedy, MFA, Education Programs Administrator at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, MFA from University of the Arts'/Pig Iron Theatre Company in Devised Performance, former Experience Consulting Creative Producer at Museum Hack.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, February 24, 12-1PM, JAH 207. Lunch provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) play a significant role in individual and population health outcomes. SDOH is affected by many factors. One factor is racism as it affects all aspects of SDOH. In this session, we’ll define racism, examine its history as it relates to the social determinants of health, and examine the city of Philadelphia’s health outcomes by neighborhood. 

Objectives – at the end of the session, learners will be able to: 

• Define the institution of racism and its many forms, including structural racism 
• List 5 components of the Social Determinants of Health 
• Discuss the importance of structural competency 
• Discuss examples of structural racism’s effects as a barrier to health equity 

Facilitator: Bernard L. Lopez, MD, MS, CPE, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Thomas Jefferson University.

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, February 24, Hamilton 210/211. 5-6:30PM. Dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students.

Restoring Balance

It’s so easy to feel off-balance - to feel torn between polarities of work-rest, doing-being, dark-light, joy-sorrow…and to be knocked off-center by unexpected events or changes. In this workshop we will explore and engage in creative practices that promote an awareness of what balance/imbalance feels, sounds and looks like, and what helps us restore and return to a sense of balance.

Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC and Sondra Rosenberg, ATR-BC.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Please note: This workshop is in-person and open to Jefferson students only; pre-registration required.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Wednesday, February 26, 5-6:30PM, BLSB 105. Dinner provided. Open to Jefferson students, faculty, and staff.

Every person has a story. In this candid conversation series, we’ll talk with community members about their real experiences at the intersection of healthcare, wellbeing and identity. Each guest brings unique insights and expertise into problems of health that span social and clinical dimensions, and engage questions of access, equity and justice. Sessions will be led by an interprofessional team of Jefferson student moderators and include interactive Q&A with attendees.

Special guest: Oronde McClain

Oronde McClain is the founder of the Oronde McClain Foundation and a survivor of gun violence. In April 2000 at the age of 10, Oronde was shot in the head while walking in his Mt. Airy neighborhood. He was in a coma for a month, and was unable to talk or walk for 18 months. Today, Oronde is a full-time father of five, a loving husband, and a college graduate who works as a psych nurse for the government. He has transformed his life-altering experience into a driving force for change by establishing the Oronde McClain Foundation which advocates for gun violence prevention and helps gun violence survivors cope. Oronde is an author and motivational speaker who hosts events to give back to the community, and educates others on the effects of gun violence on his own life on the lives of children in general. This year Oronde joined the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting as the organization’s first Credible Messenger Newsroom Liaison. "I work with journalists and news organizations in Philadelphia in an effort to build and strengthen relationships with the Center, share knowledge and work together to advance the practice of reporting on gun violence. The Center and I share a common goal of exploring the idea that changing the way journalists and news organizations report on gun violence can prevent shootings and save lives." With his expertise as a gun violence survivor, plus working for 20 years in affected Germantown, he embraces the privilege of leading individuals toward unlocking their full potential and exploring boundless possibilities.

Read or listen to this interview with Oronde McClain and WHYY.

Community Voices is presented by the Jefferson College of Population Health, the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice & Education, and Jefferson Humanities & Health.

Questions? Please contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, March 24, Online via Zoom. 5-6PM. Open to Jefferson students.

Coping with Stress

In this virtual, art-based workshop, participants will engage in a variety of practices designed to reduce stress. Learn how to identify the physical and emotional symptoms of stress and how to move through them to a more grounded and relaxed state. Facilitated by Sondra Rosenberg, ATR-BC.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Please note: This workshop is virtual and open to Jefferson students only; pre-registration required. A Zoom link will be provided in the Eventbrite order confirmation and the event reminder from Eventbrite, which will be emailed 48 hours before the event. If you do not receive the Zoom link, please contact Kirsten Bowen at kirsten.bowen@jefferson.edu.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.

Monday, April 7, Online via Zoom, 5-6PM. Open to Jefferson students.

Self-Care Medley [Music & Writing Edition]

In order to effectively care for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This virtual workshop will introduce you to a variety of music-based experiences designed to promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Facilitated by Peggy Tileston, MT-BC.

About the Creative Approaches to Self-Care Series

In order to care effectively for others, we must first learn to care for ourselves. This interdisciplinary series is designed to engage students in self-care practices that promote healthy stress management and burnout prevention. Workshops will address topics including how to cope with stress and anxiety, cultivate relaxation techniques, find balance and develop self-compassion.

Please note: This workshop is virtual and open to Jefferson students only; pre-registration required. A Zoom link will be provided in the Eventbrite order confirmation and the event reminder from Eventbrite, which will be emailed 48 hours before the event. If you do not receive the Zoom link, please contact Kirsten Bowen at kirsten.bowen@jefferson.edu.

Co-presented with the Student Counseling Center (SCC)

Questions? Contact Kirsten Bowen, Humanities Program Coordinator.