Annual Lorraine Stanfield Lecture Focused on the Importance of Listening
Befitting an event focused on the importance of the physical examination, speakers at the 8th Annual Lorraine Stanfield, MD, Memorial Doctoring Lecture, held Aug. 25 in Hiebert Lounge, kept returning to the importance of listening. Whether students were listening to a patient’s heartbeat through the new stethoscopes donated by alumni, or talking with patients in an examination room, speakers emphasized the quality of being able to hear what the body and the person were communicating about their health.
She (Lorraine Stanfield) was someone who loved students deeply. She listened to everyone in a way that you would want to be listened to, whether you were a patient or a friend.
Priya Garg, MD, associate dean of medical education
“These stethoscopes are more than just a tool to help you examine a patient …They represent a physician’s role as a healer and caregiver,” said keynote speaker Ricardo Cruz, MD’11, MA’07, MPH’03, assistant professor of medicine and assistant dean of student affairs.
Keynote speaker Ricardo Cruz, MD’11, MA’07, MPH’03, assistant professor of medicine and assistant dean of student affairs.“We listen to the body to understand, diagnose and treat illness, (but the stethoscope) also represents presence. When we utilize the stethoscope, we should be attentive and present, not only listening to the patient’s body but listening to their stories.”
Stanfield, who died in 2017 at age 56 from breast cancer, worked for two decades as a primary care physician caring for underserved patients at Dorchester House Health Center (DotHouse). A much beloved teacher, advisor, mentor and clinician who won the school’s and University’s highest teaching awards as well as the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award for clinical excellence, Stanfield was remembered with love and admiration at this year’s memorial lecture by those who knew her and worked with her.
“She was someone who loved students deeply. She listened to everyone in a way that you would want to be listened to, whether you were a patient or a friend,” recalled Priya Garg, MD, associate dean of medical education.
First-year medical student Andrew Chang receives his stethoscope and other equipment.
Heather Miselis, MD’04, MPH’00, associate dean of alumni affairs, worked with Stanfield at DotHouse and remembered her as an outstanding educator and a compassionate person. Miselis told students that more than 80 alumni funded the 139 stethoscopes that were part of instrument kits they received following the lecture, which also included the patella hammer, tuning forks, ophthalmoscope and an otoscope. Since 2007, alumni, through the Alumni Association, have donated more than 2,500 stethoscopes to first-year students, Miselis said.
“I think the stethoscope specifically is something we’ve been thinking about, some of us, since childhood,” said first-year medical student Anya Sanchorawala. The daughter of two physicians, Sanchorawala dressed up as doctor for Halloween as a child, using her parents’ scrubs and draping her father’s stethoscope over her shoulders. When he’d give her a ride to and from school, the stethoscope was always in the car.
“It’s been a big symbol of what it means to be a physician, and I’m really grateful to now have one,” said Sanchorawala. “I feel like I’m finally there, in the medical community, with my parents.”
“It means a lot that I received my stethoscope from someone who was educated here at BU. Hopefully, I’m in a position to do the same someday,” said first-year student Ishan Oza. “As a physician, you not only have to take care of your patients but also make sure the next generation of physicians are being properly educated and have the tools they need to save lives.”
Elizabeth Dooling, MD’65, purchased copies of Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, and handed them out to students.
Students receive alumni support in many ways. Elizabeth Dooling, MD’65, a retired pediatric neurologist, set up a table at the Stanfield lecture, as she has done since 2014, to distribute copies she purchased of Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, giving one to each student. That’s approximately 1,800 copies of the book she’s given free to students over the last dozen years.
As the first person in her family to go to medical school, first-year student Alison Chilcott credited their support with helping her down that difficult path but also appreciated her new “family” in the medical community.
“It’s like transferring the support of family to people who will take me even further,” said Chilcott. She was touched by the memories of Stanfield shared by colleagues and friends.
“Seeing how many people were moved by her, were influenced by her, gives me a lot of hope that I will be trained by people who want to continue her legacy,” said Chilcott.
Denis Pegosyan, another first-year student, said he didn’t expect such a big ceremony. A month into his first year, with his first exam happening later in the week, Pegosyan said it was a refreshing break from academics.
“It’s nice to take a step back and zoom out and see what this is really all about: helping other human beings.”