Spring Break
Bergman addresses honors inductees
by Harry Shipps
Assistant News Editor
News | 5/19/09
Posted online at 2:14 AM EST on 5/19/09
Later in an interview with the Justice, Bergman described one such moment in particular, telling the story of a women who had been brought in to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, where he was an intern.
The woman had been in a coma for years and had demanded before losing consciousness not to be left alive should she fall into a coma. The doctors, however, continued to treat the pneumonia she had to the best of their abilities, eventually sending her back to a nursing home still unconscious.
Bergman said, "What kind of victory is that?" questioning what the doctors had succeeded in achieving for the woman.
As he talked about his process of discovery and hardship, Bergman emphasized the importance of remaining connected to others in life, saying in his speech, "All of us in this room have experienced and will experience suffering. There is no way around it; the question is how we go through it. If you try to gut it out and go through it yourself, you are headed for trouble."
President of the Brandeis Mu Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL), who introduced Bergman, told the Justice that Bergman came to mind as a possible speaker because "he straddles two fields; he is a writer, and he is in medicine, and he has a humane approach to medicine."
After the speech, Gregory Antill '09, who was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa and plans on going to medical school, said that Bergman's speech painted a picture of interning at a hospital as being "certainly daunting but encouraging that you get to heal people."
The woman had been in a coma for years and had demanded before losing consciousness not to be left alive should she fall into a coma. The doctors, however, continued to treat the pneumonia she had to the best of their abilities, eventually sending her back to a nursing home still unconscious.
Bergman said, "What kind of victory is that?" questioning what the doctors had succeeded in achieving for the woman.
As he talked about his process of discovery and hardship, Bergman emphasized the importance of remaining connected to others in life, saying in his speech, "All of us in this room have experienced and will experience suffering. There is no way around it; the question is how we go through it. If you try to gut it out and go through it yourself, you are headed for trouble."
President of the Brandeis Mu Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL), who introduced Bergman, told the Justice that Bergman came to mind as a possible speaker because "he straddles two fields; he is a writer, and he is in medicine, and he has a humane approach to medicine."
After the speech, Gregory Antill '09, who was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa and plans on going to medical school, said that Bergman's speech painted a picture of interning at a hospital as being "certainly daunting but encouraging that you get to heal people."
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