Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture at the AAMC Conference

Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture at the AAMC Conference

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, in partnership with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), sponsors the Jordan J. Cohen Humanism in Medicine Lecture at the AAMC Annual Meeting. These lectures feature prominent speakers on topics related to humanism and medicine.

Dr. Darrell Kirch

In 2025, the Jordan J. Cohen Lecturer will be Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, President Emeritus of AAMC, Gold Trustee, and lifelong champion of humanism in medicine. His lecture, “A Physician’s Journey through Uncharted Waters,” will be held on Sunday, November 2, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in San Antonio, Texas, at the Learn Serve Lead conference.

“A Physician’s Journey through Uncharted Waters” will explore the deeply personal and professional evolution of a physician navigating the complexities of modern medicine. Drawing on unexpected lessons from his own path, Dr. Kirch will reflect on how these experiences sharpened, rather than dulled, his commitment to the ethical obligations of the profession and the humanistic core of medicine.

Gold Foundation President and CEO Dr. Kathleen Reeves will introduce Dr. Kirch.

Past Speakers

Kimberly Manning, MD

2024
Gold Foundation Trustee
Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
General Internist/Hospitalist
“Wisdom at the Bedside”

Reed V. Tuckson, MD, FACP

2023
Managing Director
Tuckson Health Connections, LLC
"Confronting Misinformation and Mistrust"

Lawrence G. Smith, MD, MACP

2022
Gold Foundation Trustee
Executive Vice President for Northwell Health
and Founding Dean Emeritus of the Zucker School of Medicine
"Systemic Barriers to Humanism and Professionalism"

Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP

2021
Award-winning physician, researcher and advocate
Author: "The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity"
“Humanism: A Hidden Catalyst for Medical Innovation”

Rana Awdish, MD

2019
Author and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program and Medical Director of Care Experience at Henry Ford Hospital
“The Wound is the Gift.”

George Thibault, MD

2018
Immediate Past President of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
"Humanism in Medicine: What Does it Mean and Why is it More Important than Ever?"

Don Berwick, MD, MPP

2017
President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
“Changing the Balance of Power: New Designs for More Capable Care”

Brian D. Hodges, MEd, PhD

2015
Professor, University of Toronto
Vice President Education at the University Health Network
Project Lead for the AMS Phoenix Project.
"Without Compassion There is no Healthcare: The AMS Phoenix Project – A Call to Caring"

Daniel Goleman, PhD

2014
Psychologist
Author: "Emotional Intelligence and Focus, The Hidden Driver of Excellence"
"Emotionally Intelligent Healthcare"

Anna Quindlen

2013
Best-selling author
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Social critic
"Healthcare in an Age of Information: How Doctors, Nurses and Consumers Can Make One Another Better"

Louise Aronson, MD

2016
Geriatrician and Writer
"Transforming Healthcare in a Toxic Era: Shifting Medicine’s Paradigm to Increase Value and Meaning"

Parker J. Palmer

2011
Founder and Senior Partner
Center for Courage & Renewal
Author: Healing and the Heart of Democracy
"Healing, Healthcare and the Broken Heart"

Abraham Verghese, MD

2012
Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine
Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Author: Cutting for Stone
"Books and the Bedside"

Jonathan Woodson, MD

2010
Associate Dean for Students and Diversity
Boston University School of Medicine
"Restructuring Medical Education to Meet the Social Contract"

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA

2009
President and CEO, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
"Transforming Healthcare for the Betterment of Patients"

Samuel Shem, MD (pen-name of Stephen Bergman, MD, PhD)

2008
Harvard Medical School faculty for 35 years
Author, The House of God and The Spirit of the Place
"Staying Human: The House of God and The Spirit of the Place"

Jerome Groopman, MD

2007
Recanati Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief of Experimental Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Author, How Doctors Think
"How Doctors Think"

Jerry Avorn, MD

2006
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham & Women's Hospital
"The Sacred Act of Prescribing: Humanism Welded to Science"

Abraham Verghese, MD

2005
Joaquin Cigarroa Jr. Chair and Marvin Forland Distinguished Professor,
Director, Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
"In Search of the Medical in Medical Humanities"

Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

2004
Director
Institute for the Study of Health and Illness
Professor, University of California - San Francisco School of Medicine
The Search for Compassion and Meaning in Medicine

David Leach, MD

2002
Executive Director
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
"The Power of Community in Academic Medicine"

Kenneth I. Shine, MD

2003
Director, Rand Center for Domestic and International Health Security
Former President, the Institute of Medicine
"Medical Education: Knowing and Understanding Patients"

 

Daniel Federman, MD

2001
Senior Dean for Alumni Relations and Clinical Teaching
Harvard Medical School
"A Humanistic Ethic for Medical Education"

Edward Hundert, MD

2000
Dean, School of Medicine & Dentistry
Professor of Psychiatry & Medical Humanities
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
"Humanism, Mentoring and The Golden Rule"

Jerome Groopman, MD

1999
Recanati Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
"The Intersection of Science and the Soul"