Carola Eisenberg: A Lucky Life

Carola Eisenberg, M.D. (1917 -2021) Dr. Eisenberg, a psychiatrist, was born with a social conscience. She was descended from Jewish socialist refugees from Czarist Russia and was a native of Argentina, where by her account she was inspired to pursue psychiatry after visiting a mental hospital as a teenager with her father. One of our colleagues, the Mohs miscographic surgeon Dr. Jenny Stone, has warm memories from her student days at Harvard of Carola Eisenberg: “In September 1978, I was a nervous first year student at Harvard Medical School.  In the midst of a flurry of faculty-introductory speeches, one person stood out: Dr. Carola Eisenberg, our new dean of student … Continue reading

Share

Sanctuaries

    There is nowhere Black people can go to not be inside a carceral gaze or at risk of experiencing police brutality. …And we, in healthcare, have to [start] building that sanctuary for folks as their human right. Rhea Boyd In her recent New England Journal Perspective essay, “Without Sanctuary”1 S. Michelle Ogunwole suggests that our hospitals and offices should be sanctuaries for our patients.  She writes: In quiet moments, I often reflect on how our society decides who deserves punishment and who deserves redemption. I think about grace, and how Black people get so little. I think about trust, and how Black people get so little. I think about … Continue reading

Share

Bernard Lown (1921 – 2021)

Dr. Bernard Lown, the Harvard cardiologist who invented the first effective heart defibrillator and was one of a group of co-founders of an international organization that won the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for its campaign against nuclear war, died on on February 16, 2021 at his home in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He was 99. If you are not familiar with Dr. Lown, the NY Times Obituary is a good place to begin. His book, “The Lost Art of Healing” (1996) was inspirational reading for me. Here are my notes if anyone wants to see them. Here are some excerpts from the Preface: Medicine’s profound crisis, I believe, is only partially … Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share