Abraham Verghese has been selected to receive a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.
Abraham Verghese has been selected to receive a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.
SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Well-known author and Stanford University physician Abraham Verghese, MD, is being awarded a National Humanities Medal by U.S. President Barack Obama, the White House announced this week.
His first book, My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story, tells his story of caring for patients who have terminal AIDS. Verghese has garnered an international reputation for his emphasis on empathy for patients in an era in which technology often overwhelms the human side of medicine. “My interest in the human experience of being ill or caring for the ill was as much a part of medicine as knowledge of the function of the pancreas, for example,” he was quoted as saying.
He is among 12 recipients who are receiving the honor, which include authors, a poet, physician, historian, chef and a higher education program, and will be awarded the medal by the president — in conjunction with the National Medal of Arts — Sept. 22 at the White House.
“Our understanding of ourselves, our history and our culture have been deepened and transformed by these extraordinary humanities medalists,” said NEH chairman William Adams in a statement. “I am proud to join President Obama in celebrating the achievements of these distinguished individuals.”
He was awarded the medal “for reminding us that the patient is the center of the medical enterprise. His range of proficiency embodies the diversity of the humanities; from his efforts to emphasize empathy in medicine, to his imaginative renderings of the human drama,” the NEH statement read.
“Abraham Verghese is not only an exemplary clinician, he is an exemplary humanist,” said Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne in a statement released by the university. “Every day in the classroom, he teaches his students that professions such as medicine benefit from an understanding of the human condition. We are so proud that his breadth of scholarship has been recognized with this honor.”
“This is a special honor for a physician,” said Dr. Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. “Through his writings and his work as a physician, Abraham has worked to battle what he has seen as a lack of humanism in modern medicine. The courage to follow his own path and the compassion he has brought to his work, have made the world a better place.”
Created as an independent federal agency in 1965, NEH awards grants that support research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities. NEH is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Since 1996, when the first National Humanities Medal was given, 175 individuals and 13 organizations have been honored.
