On October 1st, 2013 we honored Mary Fisher and Dr. Ronald Arky at our event, The Golden Thread: Weaving Science and the Human Side of Healthcare. Hosted by co-chairs Maggie Gold Seelig & Jonathan Seelig and Dr. Maureen Strafford & Alex MacDonald, dinner for almost 400 guests was held at the WGBH Building in Boston.
Mary Fisher, artist and AIDS activist, gave a poignant speech that reminded the audience of what’s at stake with every patient encounter:
“All is not well. The whole world suffers. Your patients are in agony and you cannot rest until you care for them. The poor are hungry. The weak are abused. Bloated politicians fill the air with sound-bytes while a million orphans waste to dust. The world is not well. But the promise of humanism is this: We can make a difference. Knowing that all is not well, you who are the healers will rise in the morning to love your patients, to comfort their families, to assure them that, so long as they breathe, they matter….”
In tribute to her friend Mary Fisher, award winning actress, Judith Light, read a poem written specifically for Ms. Fisher by Harvard physician and poet Rafael Campo. Other notable performances included : Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A by notable Boston area musicians and medical students, Docapella, the Tuft’s University Medical School a capella group and dramatic monologues by Harvard medical student actors portraying some of the moving stories that illustrate the work of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The deans of all four Massachusetts Medical Schools were also inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
Remarking on his award, Dr. Arky said, “I was greatly honored by the recognition bestowed upon me as a leader in furthering humanism in the practice of medicine and in the education of young people entering the field of medicine. It was touching, gratifying and on a personal level deeply meaningful. The Golden Thread event embodied the mission of the Gold Foundation –the promotion of compassion, empathy and understanding in the care of every sick and disabled person.”
Funds raised by the event will support the Gold Foundation’s programs in Boston’s medical schools and affiliated hospitals, including the foundation’s Research Institute for humanism in medicine housed at the Cambridge Health Alliance. We are so grateful to all who made this event a success and look forward to planning next year’s dinner.
See pictures of the night’s highlights (25 pictures)
See all pictures from the event (341 pictures)
See video of the entire event (90 minutes)
Read press release: International AIDS Advocate Mary Fisher and Harvard Medical School Professor, Ronald Arky, MD Honored for Life’s Work of Compassion
