Dr. Charles Hatem, speaker (right), with Drs. Victor Schuster and Laurie Jacobs.On Monday, September 16, 2013, Dr. Charles Hatem, Harold Amos Distinguished Academy Professor, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Chair of the Department of Medical Education at Mount Auburn Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, delivered the first annual Sharon Silbiger, MD Memorial Lecture entitled “Reflections on the Clinician's Journey”. Dr. Hatem discussed the importance of humanistic learning in teaching medicine, humanism in clinical care, and physicians’ practice of self-care as an integral component of the quality of healthcare delivery.
Over 100 guests filled the Price Center’s LeFrak Auditorium to overflowing as they listened to Dr. Hatem’s extraordinarily moving discussion, which wove together examples from medical literature, poetry, literary quotations, political addresses, and primary care practice to illustrate the eight practitioner skills drawn from studies of Churchill and Schenck, promoting healing relationships by focusing on the following: do the little things; take time; be open and listen; let the patient explain; find something to like, to love; remove barriers; share authority; be committed and trustworthy.
Sharon Silbiger, MDDr. Silbiger, Professor of Medicine and Associate Chair of Medicine for Undergraduate Education, passed away September 6, 2012 after a long battle with chondrosarcoma. She was an outstanding nephrologist and active investigator on the role of gender in renal disease progression. Before her appointment to the Associate Chair position, she was House Staff Program Director for the Department of Medicine for nearly a decade. Nationally, Dr. Silbiger was immediate past-president of Women in Nephrology. Her unwavering commitment to equal care for every patient inspired those who knew her, and she was a role model for countless faculty, residents, and students. (more)
The Sharon Silbiger, M.D. Fund was established in her memory and supports this annual lectureship in the Department of Medicine.
"In her eight years as the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director, Sharon made each of the nearly 700 residents who came through her program feel special. She listened, gave sound advice, offered a shoulder to cry on, and set very high standards for patient care. Dr. Hatem’s address could not have been more fitting for this truly outstanding physician, teacher, and human being," said Dr. Victor Schuster, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and host of the event.
