Family : MCW 2023 Graduation Remarks by Joseph Kerschner, MD

From the May 19, 2023 issue of the Transformational Times - Graduation

Family 

 Joseph E. Kerschner, MD 

 

 

Here is Dr. Kerschner's graduation speech to the graduates of the Medical College of Wisconsin, delivered on May 19, 2023. He shares his reflections on MCW as a “family,” and some reasons why he is optimistic for the future ... 

 

“Family” was a common theme about which faculty and staff wanted to talk when I interviewed to be Dean of the School of Medicine at MCW. I often heard MCW was characterized by having a “family atmosphere.” As I progressed in my leadership journey, it has become abundantly clear to me that two things matter far more than any other in the success of an organization: its PEOPLE (family) and its PRACTICES (culture). 

 

With outstanding people and practices, organizations can overcome almost any obstacle.  

 

It is with utmost confidence that I know our graduating students will bring their excellence to many organizations across the globe—to become the people of each of those organizations. It is my profound hope that you will also carry the culture and practices that MCW strives to embody—the PRACTICES—which reflect the best parts of being a family. 

 

These PRACTICES include: 

• Striving to understand the wonder and potential of individuals—family members—instead of the opposite, which I fear we see far too often in today’s world.  

• Truly seeing our colleagues—family members—and including all as equals and endeavoring to lift their ideals and hopes along with our own. 

• Working with purpose and values with those around you—family members—to build a better planet and world as you also accomplish the task at hand for your own professional careers. 

• Perhaps, most importantly, gathering at the table with those around you—your family members—in the spirit of listening and understanding rather than simply expounding upon a viewpoint.  

Coming with a sense of optimism and curiosity—assuming best intent 

Truly being grateful for that person—family member—even if our viewpoints as on differing sides of the aisle  

Providing a space for respect, dialogue, and understanding of their journey 

• And finally, creating space for love wherever your journey takes you. 

Families have love at their core. 

• Love that allows transcendence of differences. 

• Love of purpose and people that binds them together. 

 

 

I exhort you to create love in the world and in your worlds. Create relationships and cultures that allow positivity and connectivity to bloom and be pollinated, propagating everywhere. While it is true that organizations will not love you back, that does not mean that you cannot create the culture and practices in organizations that enable and embody the best aspects of human nature with respect, inclusion, caring and love. 

 

Some of you may know that, quite literally, I have a piece of my own family amongst the MCW family of graduates this year. I have watched you all endure much throughout your education, not the least being the challenges of the pandemic. I have personally witnessed your courage, compassion, and excellence; you have embodied the best aspects of family under pressure. You have supported each other in incredible ways.  

 

Having a family member as one of this year’s graduates has provided me with the gift of proximity to this year’s graduating class, a proximity that is much closer than is usually afforded to the Dean of the School of Medicine and Provost of MCW. The gift of proximity has allowed me an even greater appreciation of the unique and special characteristics, and talent of our graduates. It has provided me with the greatest sense of hope, wonder and optimism for the future of medicine and our health professions and the pursuit of knowledge through scientific discovery.  

 

 

Joseph E. Kerschner MD is the Provost, Executive Vice President, and Julia A. Uihlein, MA, Dean of the School of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In addition to his leadership roles, he remains active in research and developing innovative treatments in the field of otolaryngology.  

 

 

 

 

Part 3: You Can Have it All

From the May 19, 2023 issue of the Transformational Times

Part 3: You Can Have it All

Bryan Johnston, MD

In this essay, Dr. Johnston draws on a clinical encounter to show why he was drawn to his career in Family Medicine. He hopes graduating medical students will also find meaning and connections as they help other people throughout their careers ... 

 

 

“Not doing too good, Doc. I buried my cousin last week,” he said, slouching in his chair.

“What happened?” I asked grimly.

“It was sudden, I don’t really know what happened.” 

  

I murmured my regrets and a pause drifted over us. He and I had been meeting monthly for over a year and these moments had become part of our rhythm. He was still recovering from the loss of his son a few months ago, of an aunt last year. His tibia was still healing after a recent assault, his left orbit finally felt better after a pistol-whipping last year. His assailants had been after the most valuable thing he owned—the buprenorphine that felt like a firewall against the cycle of withdrawal and use he had clawed his way out of. 

  

Trauma within trauma, grief upon grief  

  

These moments matter to me because it is in them that I feel I can be of real use. To be of use, to me, is a concept marrying intrinsic and extrinsic needs along a trajectory of development. It is a way of seeking to understand and respond to needs you see that you feel called to and capable of meeting. It is a way to acknowledge what fulfills you, to build skills and experiences toward sharpening the impact you can make in doing those things. It can be a framework allowing you to infuse yourself into your work and also into humanity. 

 

Family Medicine and its proximity to meaningful relationships, behavioral health, and wellness, to community, and to health equity drew me in like whatever attracts songbirds to fly north in springtime. Over time, I gained skills in addiction medicine, trauma-informed care, social determinants of health screening and intervention, and system-level advocacy, always with a growing sense of being of use.

My patient had required all these skills and more, a high level of need but also a high level of mutual fulfillment in meeting that need. After I had found a pharmacist willing to dispense an early refill of buprenorphine after his last assault, he humbly thanked me and told me that he had never trusted a doctor before. 

  

 “How’s your family doing?” I asked.

“They’re ok, I talked to my father this morning and he’s taking it ok.”

“And how are you holding up?”

He laughed then shook his head. “It’s a lot, Doc. It feels like I’m surrounded by death.”  

 

We reviewed his support system, how he was coping with his suffering, checked his mood and screened for suicidality, then turned to the devastating impact of stacking grief and trauma. After months of coaxing, he had agreed to make a therapy appointment but had to miss it due to the funeral. He agreed to reschedule it.

“I know you’re a private person. But nobody can hold all that in. This is not a normal time you’re going through; this may be the hardest time in your life.” The buprenorphine was helping him, and he had not used. There were some positive things amidst the difficult parts, and we spent a few minutes focusing on that. “Be gentle with yourself right now,” I told him as we stood up.

“Ok,Doc,” he said, then shuffled off.  

  

I left the room feeling not sorrow, but deep well-wishes and gratitude for our relationship, for the intimacy we had shared, for the trust enabling support in this critical time. Above all, I felt that I was right where I needed to be -- at the intersection of skill, experience, and need; in short, that I had been of use. 

  

Medical learners often talk about what they want to do in the future

These conversations can take a short or long time, but most often avoid the core bits which underlie who we are, what we have come to understand about ourselves, and the connection we hope to have with others, with the world. In medicine we speak in symbols, we ourselves are symbols for who we are. I say I am a Family & Addiction Physician committed to health equity, and you can imagine several things about me. You might say you are going into Orthopedic Surgery, or Psychiatry, and others may intuit things about you.  

  

What I want to say is that you are a dynamic person, and it’s possible for the most important parts of you to come together in a future in which you are generating meaning for yourself and others by being of use in a way that is yours alone.  

  

Thank you for who you are and all the good you do now and in the future. And— enjoy the ride. 

 

 

(Patient details changed to protect identity) 

Bryan Johnston, MD, is a Family & Addiction Medicine Physician, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at MCW.