I just returned from a short week in Dayton, Ohio. While there I had the opportunity to speak to the University of Dayton’s pre-med club. I told them that when I graduated from college medicine was the best profession and now, fifty years later, it still is! I went on to tell them that neither Nixon, Johnson, nor Hillary Clinton was able to destroy our esteemed profession and Obama won’t either. He may try, but the good people of America will intervene. We do need to revise the way medicine is practiced and financed; that will undoubtedly be part of their jobs. It is usually the young people who change society for the better!
I was also asked to be a guest lecturer for two sections of Ethics and Health Care. That was fun; college kids have changed very little since I was in school. They know a lot more facts, but many of them still have a problem with abstract thinking. We talked about the Hippocratic Oath, beginning of life and end of life issues, as well as prioritization of life-saving procedures. I think they had a good time and hopefully they broadened their knowledge of medical ethics.
My final event at UD was presentation and signing of my book, Messengers in Denim, at the campus book store. It was great to meet some more UD students, more of the faculty, and friends of the University and faculty. They were all enthusiastic about this book. I asked them to send me an evaluation (faculty are good at that) so I will let you know what they have to say.