Gold Humanism Honor Society

GHHS is responding to COVID-19 with action and humanity

Humanism in healthcare matters more urgently now than ever. This is a frightening and uncertain time, and the commitment of those on the front lines to scientific excellence, compassion, and collaboration – the three defining characteristics of humanism in healthcare – will help everyone around the globe get through this time.
Some of our Gold Humanism Honor Society members are actively working in the hospitals on the front lines to care for their patients with the deepest humanity, while other GHHS members must show their support in other ways. This edition of The Gold Connection is dedicated to sharing the current efforts of our GHHS chapters, their schools, and our greater GHHS community. We encourage our members to connect with one another as well as GHHS staff to continue to share ways to stand in solidarity with healthcare workers, patients, and caregivers.

#FrontLineFaces

Join our call for human connection in this pandemic by sharing your photos and stories


Amid this life-altering pandemic, with physical distancing a necessity and the challenges to our healthcare teams and society rising by the minute, one thing is clear: human connections are more important than ever.

As part of its mission to keep healthcare human, The Gold Foundation seeks to help strengthen connections during this crisis by encouraging clinicians and patients to share photos and stories of their experiences. Research has shown that a warm, strong human connection helps patients heal while also helping practitioners maintain their own well-being, and we need to mobilize every tool available in this historic fight.

Join us in honoring clinicians’ courage and compassion and recognizing their humanity in this fight, while making space for patients and everyone on the front lines to share their personal stories and be seen. Please join us in sharing your #FrontLineFaces photos and stories and in writing caring comments of support on social media when you see #FrontLineFaces posts.

Doctors at Montefiore Health System in New York City share their #FrontLineFaces — smiling as a team amidst these incredibly challenging times. THESE are the faces that are bringing hope and companionship to those most in need. Thank You, healthcare workers.

Submit your photos and stories to the #FrontLineFaces project at here or at info@gold-foundation.org or post your photo and story on social media with the hashtag #FrontLineFaces.
On Twitter and Instagram, please tag us @GoldFdtn. Thank you for helping Keep Healthcare Human.

Golden Glimmers

Overwhelmed by (and largely unprepared for) the intense emotional experiences of his first clinical year, Ben Kaplan, MD/MPH Candidate, Class of 2021 at UNC School of Medicine started creating simple, four-by-four-inch drawings to process these experiences and share them with his medical school friends. This helped them to talk about their experiences with each other, and recognize that many of us were feeling similar things. If you’d like to share your photos, art, haiku, or other forms of creative expression with the GHHS team, please click here.

“It is best for the health of our friends, loved ones and communities that we minimize face-to-face contact with other people, especially in groups, to the greatest extent possible at this time. It feels paradoxical, but “social distancing” is actually a really important way to show up for your community. It can be uncomfortable, and may exacerbate anxiety and depression, so it’s important to have a self-care plan during this time: call and FaceTime people you love, go for a walk in the woods, snuggle your dog, meditate, and remember that this is not forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To submit a piece of your art to be shared on the GHHS website, please click here.

Reflective Writing

Medical students at the University of North Carolina have started a virtual “Writing for Resilience” program for their peers to channel their emotions during this incredibly challenging time. The goal of these sessions is to offer respite and reflective space through writing in response to brief prompts. Students in every year of medical school are invited to participate in the 1-hour weekly discussion.
One to two prompts – such as “Medicine draws in people who want to ‘be of use’. What does it mean to ‘be of use’ given all that we don’t know?” – are provided to the group for reflection. Students spend time writing, discussing, and importantly, expressing their concerns and emotions to like-minded and supportive peers. If you would like to start a program like this for your peers, please contact your GHHS peer Caroline Fryar. To submit a piece of your writing to be shared on the GHHS website, please click here.

To submit a piece of your writing to be shared on the GHHS website, please click here.

Support for healthcare workers

GHHS medical students and their peers are looking for ways to help however they can, even if they can’t be direct support on the front lines.

Other ways GHHS members are showing their support:

UC Davis GHHS chapter partners with SacSOUP to perform medical screenings and meals, build hand washing stations, and distribute donations to Sacramento’s unhoused communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

GHHS member Kristen Mastrantoni and her peers at West Virginia University School of Medicine created lawn signs to show their gratitude to all healthcare workers.

 

GHHS student, Tony Thiros at Pacific Northwest University-Health Sciences began an initiative to supply people and clinics in the local Treasure Valley with cloth masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tony started this initiative because he was hearing that a number of clinics that he had had rotated through were running out of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Their suppliers were beginning to divert their supplies to the hospitals in the area and it was leaving these clinics to fend for themselves. To get involved, contact GHHS student, Tony Thiros at Pacific Northwest University-Health Sciences began an initiative to supply people and clinics in the local Treasure Valley with cloth masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tony started this initiative because he was hearing that a number of clinics that he had had rotated through were running out of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Their suppliers were beginning to divert their supplies to the hospitals in the area and it was leaving these clinics to fend for themselves.

To get involved, contact Tony Thiros