Originally Posted: January 19, 2016
A doctor’s mission: Showing why literature matters to medicine
During four years of medical school, Dr. Susan Oh kept herself from reading books other than those related to her studies.
“Even though I wanted to, it would be like, ‘No, I need to further my knowledge and be the best physician I can be,’” says dermatology resident Oh, 42.
Then she met Dr. John Harper, the Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas cardiologist whose sixth annual “Literature + Medicine” conference will be held Tuesday. And she began to realize that her love of the written word could add an unexpected dimension to being a physician.
“Reading,” says Harper, who has an English degree from Southern Methodist University, “makes us better people, and better people are better doctors.”
In his Friday morning Coffee With Cardiology teaching sessions, which Oh attends even on her days off, Harper doesn’t just take residents and medical students on rounds and discusses cases. He also brings music for them to absorb and essays, poems and short stories for them to read — or, he says, to “lean in and listen” as he reads aloud. He accompanies his students to museums and invites them to his home to discuss literature. READ MORE