Honor Society Induction for Class of 2013

Surrounded by faculty and friends, 19 fourth-year Einstein students joined the ranks of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) at an induction ceremony on Thursday, November 1, 2012.

The GHHS, which recognizes individuals who have been nominated by their peers for their unique devotion to patient care, is sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, an international organization dedicated to promoting humanism in medicine. More than 100 medical schools, including Einstein, host GHHS chapters.

“These students are the ones we’d want to take care of us,” said Dr. Staci Pollack, co-advisor to the Einstein chapter and assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health.

The student inductees were: Mark Abrams, Nathaniel Brown, Maria Pia Castillo, Dana Faleck, Kelvin Fong, Eman Haidari, David Hoffman, Emilie Jacobs, Krithika Kavanoor, Nadav Lelkes, Michael Lubrano, Nandini Nair, Adam von Samek, Deborah Schwartz, Brian Shaller, Caitlin Woo, Patrice Wout, and Tiffany Yeh.  Dr. Rachel Katz, associate professor of clinical pediatrics,also was inducted as a faculty honoree and presented with the Gold Foundation’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.

In her keynote address, Dr. Katz described how a sense of humanism can be challenged by the tasks of everyday life. “Humanism is a practice that requires preparation, reflection, and the ability to ‘be present’ with patients,” she said.

“I want to vaccinate you to help you preserve the humanism that you have,” she told the student inductees.

The Einstein GHHS chapter was founded in 2010 and, like the two previous groups of inductees, its new members will complete a service project. The Class of 2013 members plan to create a pocket guide filled with poignant sayings and anecdotes that will inspire fellow students to “go on being the best we can be,” said inductee Mark Abrams.

Fellow inductee Michael Lubrano read an essay he had written about the difficulty of helping a patient dealing with a sickle-cell crisis. Despite trying to comfort her with words – and cartons of juice he brought back from a break room – both he and the patient had to accept that she might never recover.

“Acknowledging her humanity helped us both get through her medical condition,” he said.