FOR RELEASE: June 27, 2006

GALVESTON, Texas — Houston physician John P. McGovern has contributed $1.5 million to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to endow professional societies that will immerse the university’s first- and second-year medical students in the ideals of humane, patient-centered care.

This fall all of UTMB’s approximately 220 incoming medical students will automatically become members of one of eight William Osler Student Societies, which are a program of the university’s John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine. Select faculty and members of the academy — Osler Scholars and Osler Student Scholars — will be paired with each society to serve as mentors.

Osler Scholars are practicing UTMB faculty physicians who are recognized for their devotion to the art of compassionate care and for excelling as role models for students and for other physicians. Osler Student Scholars are medical students who exemplify the ideals of renowned Canadian physician Sir William Osler (1849–1919). Osler pioneered many innovative approaches to teaching clinical medicine, including the modern medical residency program. He also taught, exemplified and promoted compassionate care.

The Osler Student Societies will feature informal discussion, service learning projects and academic encouragement, as well as social interaction. Students will remain members of the societies through their sophomore year and thereafter will have the option of continuing their involvement.

The experiences of medical students involved in a recently completed pilot program indicated the societies should be popular. Dustin Porter, one of the 18 first-year students who participated in the pilot program, said he enjoyed visiting with UTMB’s faculty. “We had almost unimpeded access to faculty of all different specialties, and they were willing to answer questions, regardless of how insignificant the questions might have seemed at the time,” said Porter, a Tyler, Texas, native. “They are all very approachable and friendly. It made the stress of medical school a little easier to bear knowing that there was someone to whom you could ask questions.”

Dr. Mark Holden, an Osler Scholar who organized the pilot student group and co-mentored it with fellow Osler Scholar Dr. Judith F. Aronson, said the students’ overall feedback has been quite favorable. “It’s really been outstanding; the students were extremely energetic about participating,” said Holden, a UTMB associate professor of internal medicine.

In addition to being mentored by UTMB faculty and upper-level students, the Osler Student Society conducted a holiday food drive for The Jesse Tree, a nonprofit social services organization in Galveston and Brazoria counties. The students also arranged pertinent social activities, such as a screening and group discussion of the movie “The Doctor.” The main character of the film, a physician who is cold and distant with his patients, learns what it feels like to receive such unsympathetic care when he himself becomes a patient.

UTMB President John D. Stobo praised McGovern for his unwavering dedication to the teaching and practice of compassionate patient care. “Thanks to Dr. McGovern’s partnership with us and his devotion to Sir William Osler as a role model, we are establishing a culture at UTMB where the commitment to humanistic ideals spreads from the highest levels of our faculty and administration to our freshmen on their first day of class,” Stobo said. “Dr. McGovern is helping us train future physicians who will develop more empathy with their patients.”

Dr. Valerie M. Parisi, dean of the UTMB School of Medicine, said she looked forward to this fall, when all of her incoming students will join the Osler Student Societies. “These groups will provide wonderful opportunities for medical students to develop important friendships while learning more about the art of compassionate patient care,” said Parisi, holder of the Thomas N. and Gleaves T. James Distinguished Chair. “We’re fortunate to have in Dr. McGovern a benefactor who is tremendously devoted to our students’ understanding of the caring relationships between physicians and their patients.” Parisi also serves as UTMB’s chief academic officer and vice president for academic program administration and services.

A longtime UTMB supporter, McGovern in 2001 made his first contribution to promote Osler’s teachings at the university when he endowed the McGovern Academy. His $5 million gift created endowments for five Osler Scholars. McGovern gave additional funds to UTMB in 2003 to create an endowment for a sixth Osler Scholar, as well as six Osler Student Awards for medical students who exemplify the renowned physician’s compassionate ideals. In 2004, McGovern made another gift to UTMB to establish endowments for two more Osler Scholar positions, create six additional Osler scholarships and fund the Excellence in Clinical Teaching Awards. The annual awards recognize UTMB faculty who epitomize excellence in this arena. Osler returned clinical teaching to prominence after 19th-century medical education had become dominated by lectures and laboratory work.

McGovern became the principal founder of the American Osler Society in 1969 after noticing that medical schools across the country were becoming heavily focused on research. While he appreciates the importance of medical science, McGovern said that teaching students how to develop caring relationships with patients was equally important. He has authored or co-authored many articles for professional journals and other publications and wrote the foreword to a meticulous collection of Osler’s essays by Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara titled “Osler’s ‘A Way of Life’ & Other Addresses with Commentary & Annotations.”

McGovern has generously contributed more than $14 million to UTMB programs over the last 31 years. He is founder of the McGovern Allergy Clinic, which he established in 1956 in Houston. It rapidly grew to become the nation’s largest in that specialty.
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