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2011 Meeting Recap
Recap
of SHIM 2011 Meeting President
Jeffrey M. Rothenberg, MD, MS
opened the meeting by
welcoming the membership, their guests, and the speakers.
He noted that it has been a while since the Society has met in Crested
Butte, and expressed the hope that those in attendance would be suitably
impressed at the changes in the resort, so many new facilities, meeting rooms,
convenient condos, restaurants, and still the same fabulous mountain.
Jeff then
introduced the moderator for the opening session, Past
President Michael T. Plante, MD. Mike
gave a detailed description of the past accomplishments of David A. Sasso, MD, MPH,
who is a child,
adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Yale University.
Prior to his medical training, Dr. Sasso studied music composition at the
Indiana University School of Music, and has written orchestral and operatic
works. He is interested in child
musical and creative development, in using music in mental health and community
settings, and in developing sensitve approaches to psychiatric problems among
performing artists. David spoke on
the topic, "Songs Soothe the Soul," and described types of amusia, the
inability to recognize musical tones or to reproduce them, gave us tests of our
ability to recognize tunes, and described patients with neurological conditions
that have affected their misical abilities.
He explored the healing powers of musical experiences, and described
projects with adolescent psychiatric inpatients in creating and performing
original operas. and then, of
course, it was our chance to write our own opera, "Money, Money,
Money," complete with lead singers and chorus.
James Dolan, MD, gave the very Irish discussion, in song.
This was a very participatory session and provided fodder for a lively
discussion.
The afternoon
session began with the first of two talks by Barry
Behrstock, MD, who has had many
interests over the years, including travel and photography, and a passion for
glassblowing. He started with,"
"A Way" not "The Way," a life examined as metaphor,"
and described his unique personal history as integrated with life, learning and
medicine. His slides and pictures
were great. His second talk,
entitled, "Twice
two is four, whether we are talking about cabbages or kings,"
explored the principles of connectivity, and fascinated us by showing how
life is interconnected and linked by a few fundamental principles.
We learned about fractals, symmetry, and emergence theory.
Monday afternoon,
introduced by John Sanders, MD, brought us Ken
Lemons, who is Chairman of Musical DNA, a music technology company, and who
has invented a mathematically precise, literal visualization of music and sound.
He brought with him an instrument, like an IPad, which permits musical
composition visually, using shapes, colors and touch points on a screen; for
kids it can be a game, but it is a serious tool.
Go to http://apps.musicaldna.com/
where you can play this instrument and also download it to your IPhone.
The session was one "wow" after another and we all knew we were
in the presence of a genius, and such a gentle, friendly, humorous, modest,
generous one. Ken is a classically
trained pianist who treated us to an evening concert.
He is also a snowboarder who perhaps overdid it one day!
Rudi Ansbacher, MD,
MS, introduced Larry Cripe, MD, a
medical oncologist in Palliative Care at the Indiana University School of
Medicine, and Founding Director of the CompleteLife Program, providing
psychosocial, complementary and creative-arts services addressing the whole
patient. "Empathy,
trustworthiness, and the inevitable," is his eloquent talk, with
the theme, how to establish a relationship with the ill person that is resilient
enough to withstand the stress of the transition from providing disease-directed
care to providing end-of-life care, illustrated by many stories and examples
from his extensive experience. We
participated in readings, both prose and poetry, and Larry shared his soul.
The topic resonated with our membership, and the discussion elicited much
emotion.
Joani
Rothenberg, MA, ATR,
was introduced by her husband Jeff, clearly proud of his wife's accomplishments.
Joani spoke on,"Art
Therapy-communicating through art for patients or caregivers," but
that doesn't begin to describe the session.
When we entered the room, we were faced with heads, white styrofoam
heads, staring at us. Joani provided
an introduction that included instruction into how to create a safe therapeutic
space, and described the difference between process and product as it relates to
art therapy. The session allowed us
to experience firsthand how art can be a valuable tool for self-expression.
Joani provided all manner of materials, including
magic markers, crayons, wires and pipe cleaners of various colors,
patterned paper that could be cut out in designs, and glued to the heads.
Then, we were asked to describe what we had done, what it meant to us,
what it symbolized; there were some poignant moments.
The heads were not discarded, as they became an integral part of the
table decorations for the Fasching Party.
An extremely moving
presentation was provided by Gregory
Gramelspacher, MD, whose topic was, "Portraits
of the Living: How Photography can enhance the care of the Dying."
Over the years, Greg, always with permission, has taken point-and-shoot
pictures of his patients who were involved in a hospice and palliative care
program; these pictures have been shared with caregivers, families, and the
patients, allowing discussion and empathy previously unavailable.
This was a wrenching session, so the magnificent discussion provided by
Duncan Neilson, MD, whose photographic achievements are well known to us, was
very welcome.
Finally, our
sessions came to an (unwelcome) end, as we wanted more and more from our caring
and sharing speakers. The chore fell
to Kathryn Dickerson, a fourth year medical student at Indiana, who
came to tell us about, "IUSM-CAT:
The establishment of a Humanistic Group of students at the country's largest
medical school." Katy
described how a group of like-minded students created a vibrant organization
that has helped examine non-traditional aspects of health care within the
context of a classic medical student education.
Creative Art Therapy (CAT) has been used to familiarize future physicians
with the role of the arts and humanities in healing.
Katy described how artistic self-expression helps people resolve
conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce
stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight.
Not only did she do that, but she taught us how to make music using the
Kazoos that she provided to all; most of us caught on, but not all....
This was an amazing meeting. The speakers stayed with us the entire time, participated in all activities, and shared insights in the Hospitality Room. Truly to be remembered. The sessions were out-of-the-box, creative, informative, in some cases mesmerizing. We hated to see it end....
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