IN THIS ISSUE
  • 17 Gold Student Summer Fellows hail from eight medical schools
  • Join the AAMC-Gold White Coat Ceremony planning webinar today (or watch later)
  • Humanism in healthcare demands we address racism
  • New Gold Human InSight Webinar on Narrative Medicine
  • Gold Foundation announces new collaboration with The Daisy Foundation
  • Gold, Planetree release joint statement on family presence in pandemics
  • June edition of Jeffrey Silver Humanism in Healthcare Research Roundup
  • Gold Foundation shares recent pivots in COVID-19 crisis
  • GHHS inductions continue in warm virtual ceremonies
The Gold Foundation is pleased to announce that 17 medical students from eight schools have been selected as 2020 Gold Student Summer Fellows. Each of their projects will focus on supporting populations who are facing healthcare disparities and are particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis. The projects range in scope and include:
  • primary care for people who are homeless
  • the mental health needs of survivors of intimate partner violence
  • text message services for diabetes self-management
  • much more.

Together with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the Gold Foundation is presenting a live webinar "White Coat Ceremonies during COVID-19: Tools, Resources, and an Open Forum to Explore Virtual Options" Tuesday, June 30, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET to share tips. The recording will be available for viewing later.

In addition, we have put together a White Coat Ceremony toolkit for schools that includes a program template, PPT template, press release template, banner, and more.
On June 3, the Gold Foundation released a statement against racism, an explicit recognition that humanism in healthcare must include anti-racism.

It begins: "The Gold Foundation is a leader of humanism in healthcare, which places human interests, values and dignity at the center of care. This basis for healthcare is also the basis for a thriving world that supports the health of every single human being. We condemn racism and call upon us all, in this fraught and historic moment, to help correct the long-standing inhumanity that harms people of color."

The Gold Foundation is actively working toward putting these words into action and will be sharing more in the weeks and months to come.

In times of trauma and uncertainty, people have always turned to literature and the arts for meaning and connection. The field of narrative medicine, a branch of health humanities, may hold particular benefit in our current times. 

Physician Deepu Gowda, Assistant Dean for Medical Education at Kaiser Permanente Tyson School of Medicine and member of the Board of Directors of Columbia Narrative Medicine, and Catherine Rogers, Associate Director and Lecturer, Division of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, invite you to view and engage with this pre-recorded narrative medicine workshop.

Watch the webinar .
As part of an ongoing initiative to recognize and support the critical role of nurses in humanism in healthcare, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is joining The DAISY Foundation’s Supportive Associations.

“Since the health professions began, nurses have embodied humanism. Their deeply compassionate care makes an incredible difference for all of us,” said Dr. Richard I. Levin, President and CEO of the Gold Foundation. “We are so pleased to join with The DAISY Foundation and look forward to continuing to honor and support nurses in our work together.”

Learn more about our new partnership.
Planetree International and the Gold Foundation jointly released a statement supporting the essential engagement of patients and their families in decisions about their own care as a foundation of a high quality, person-centered healthcare system. As part of this commitment, the Gold Foundation and Planetree International participated in a “Pop-Up” Coalition of over 60 organizations, which helped create Guidelines for minimizing unintended consequences of restrictive family presence policies during a pandemic (PDF).

The June edition of the Jeffrey Silver Humanism in Healthcare Research Roundup highlights recently published studies that tackle a variety of topics related to humanism, including:
  • How adverse childhood experiences may impact subsequent physician professionalism.
  • How high-quality program leadership improves resident well-being.
  • How can we teach and address social
  • determinants of health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded many changes of all of us. At The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, where our work has continued at full force, we have both adapted our programs and launched new initiatives to address the needs of the COVID-19 crisis. We are also explicitly incorporating anti-racism as an essential part of our work in humanism in healthcare and will have more to come soon in this important area. Through it all, our mission of elevating the importance of the human connection in healthcare remains the same. Compassionate, collaborative, scientifically excellent care is as critical as ever.

In order to fulfill our mission, we are focusing on four areas:
  • Adapting current programs, as needed:
  • Launching COVID-19 initiatives
  • Priotizing vulnerable populations
  • Promoting anti-racism, inclusion, and health equity in healthcare
Many Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) inductions are being shifted to virtual events. The Gold Foundation has assembled resources to help GHHS chapters create a virtual induction ceremony, including a welcome video and PowerPoint slides for your program. Gold Foundation representatives are also available to join your virtual ceremony to say a few brief words and congratulate your newest inductees.

GOLD PARTNERS COUNCIL MEMBERS now have the opportunity to share an event or other relevant news to our Gold community in this new space. Contact Kerry Ford at
kerry@gold-foundation.org for more information.
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