by Donna Bailey, Public Relations
From
left are: Matt Stolick, Kevin Blanchet, Hugh Lena, Jason Arnold. Seated
is: Robert Blank and Angela Wasunna.
Six people with different backgrounds, from different parts of the world, have been roaming the halls of MUSC. For the past five months each has been gathering information about hospital environments.
These six professionals are part of the Interdisciplinary Fellowship now in its second year.
Designed by MUSC’s Institute for Human Values in Health Care and directed by pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon Robert M. Sade, M.D., the fellowship seeks professionals in health care, but not experienced in the clinical environment of a hospital.
“This is the only program explicitly designed to give nonclinical professionals in health care fields the exposure and experience of observing the diagnosis and treatment of sick people.”
Sade hopes that the fellows will take this experience to their own professional environment.
Hugh Lena, Ph.D., is a professor at Providence College in Rhode Island. Lena specializes in medical sociology. He had decided to take a six-month sabbatical from teaching when he saw a notice in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
“This is a unique opportunity for someone in academia,” Lena said. “This is an opportunity to experience the various facets of medicine.”
Since his arrival, Lena has had exposure to surgical grand rounds, including transplant rounds and traveled to Columbia for a donor harvest.
“Teaching is about stories. Students learn more from real life experience than text books,” Lena said. “This experience will only enhance my teaching.”
Robert Blank, Ph.D., took advantage of his second invitation to join the Interdisciplinary Fellowship. He is a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and has lectured at MUSC in the past. He is also the senior member of the fellowship.
He has been published in medical journals and he is the author of many books including his latest, “Brain Policy.” Though he feels the reason for the fellowship is to experience a mix of exposure, he has taken interest in psychiatry and geriatrics.
“Some are easier to feel part of the process, coming from an academic social science background” Blank said. “Maybe that is why I feel more comfortable in geriatrics and psychiatry. A lot of what they do is much more social. It’s much more common sense, and much less technical.”
Angela Wasunna, LLM, is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya where she practices health law. She is also the only female fellow.
The place that impressed her the most was the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. “There is a lot of team work there,” said Wasunna. “Nurses, social workers, attending residents, medical students and administration all discussing patient care.”
She was surprised by the aggressive emphasis on healing that students receive. She was especially interested in the way doctors have five or six people to see at once, no matter what area of specialities. “In Kenya urban areas, there is one doctor for every 6,000,” she said. “In rural areas, one doctor for every 350,000.”
What will she take back to Kenya from this experience? “There is no health law program and there is a growing need for ethics to be taught at a university level,” she said. “I want to help make that curriculum.”
The youngest fellow, Matthew Stolick, Ph.D., is a recent graduate of the doctoral program in philosophy and bioethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His focus is to train medical students in compassionate care.
“I have gotten a lot out of this entire program,” said Stolick. “People are very open to considering ethical questions, especially from a person that doesn’t have much medical training.”
Since his arrival, he has also found time to volunteer for Hospice Health Services. “I find that people here are really interested in doing more to help people deal with their terminal situations,” he said.
Kevin Blanchet, is an entrepreneur, medical writer, editor and medical communications consultant. Blanchet lives in New York City. He has served as senior managing editor of AIDS Patient Care and STD’s, in addition to establishing the clinical journal Alternative & Complementary Therapies.
“The most interesting thing for me was to see how health care has changed in the past 20 years since I began in this business,” Blanchet said. “At this point in my life I was ready to immerse myself back into the medical field.”
Jason Arnold, J.D., is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School. He received his MPH degree from Columbia University in 1996. His interests lie in health law and medical ethics.
“By supporting postdoctoral positions, the College of Medicine and Institute of Human Values help benefit interdisciplinary activities,” Arnold said. “This can only make MUSC more competitive for external support.”
Each fellow paid tribute to the doctors at MUSC. “The one thing that strikes me is how hard, how many hours, and how varied the demands are on their time,” Blank said. “Coming from academia, I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen.”