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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
Dr. Stephen Bergman, a prominent psychiatrist and novelist, delivered the Phi Beta Kappa address to 2009 inductees, their families and friends and members of the public, focusing his speech on retaining compassion while practicing in the medical field at Spingold Theater last Saturday
Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe began the ceremony by offering a brief welcome to the audience. Prof. Angela Gutchess (PSYC) called out the names of the 87 inductees and presented them with a certificate and honor cord signifying their entrance.
Associate Dean of the International Business School Prof. Trenery Dolbear (IBS) gave a short history of Phi Beta Kappa, tracing its roots from a fraternity at William and Mary founded in September 1776 to the prestigious honor society it has become today.
According to a May 9 press release about the speaker, the Phi Beta Kappa address has become a traditional part of the induction of new members; former speakers at Brandeis include Justice Stephen Breyer and former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.
According to the press release, Bergman is "easily the finest and most important writer ever to focus on the lives of doctors and the world of medicine." He has written several books including The House of God in 1978.
Bergman titled his speech "How to Stay Human" and spoke about how personal experience and his writing taught him to retain his humanity and compassion while practicing in the medical profession. He identified for the inductees before him four of the most important things he had learned: that people need to connect to one another, to speak up when they see something that is wrong, to learn and practice empathy not out of a textbook but through living and to "learn your trade in the world," adapting to changing times and methods.
He described his discovery process as one consisting of a series of "wait-a-second" moments that require one to stop and think about any particular incident.
Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe began the ceremony by offering a brief welcome to the audience. Prof. Angela Gutchess (PSYC) called out the names of the 87 inductees and presented them with a certificate and honor cord signifying their entrance.
Associate Dean of the International Business School Prof. Trenery Dolbear (IBS) gave a short history of Phi Beta Kappa, tracing its roots from a fraternity at William and Mary founded in September 1776 to the prestigious honor society it has become today.
According to a May 9 press release about the speaker, the Phi Beta Kappa address has become a traditional part of the induction of new members; former speakers at Brandeis include Justice Stephen Breyer and former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.
According to the press release, Bergman is "easily the finest and most important writer ever to focus on the lives of doctors and the world of medicine." He has written several books including The House of God in 1978.
Bergman titled his speech "How to Stay Human" and spoke about how personal experience and his writing taught him to retain his humanity and compassion while practicing in the medical profession. He identified for the inductees before him four of the most important things he had learned: that people need to connect to one another, to speak up when they see something that is wrong, to learn and practice empathy not out of a textbook but through living and to "learn your trade in the world," adapting to changing times and methods.
He described his discovery process as one consisting of a series of "wait-a-second" moments that require one to stop and think about any particular incident.
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