My Philosophy
There are overarching principles that guide my personal approach to my
practice and professional activities. Whether I’m engaged in the
evaluation and management of patients in clinic, consulting with professional
athletes, agents, and/or leagues, directing the Kerlan-Jobe Center for
Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine, directing the educational program
for our Sports Neurology Fellowship, or taking part in Medical-Legal Expert
activities, my goal is to do so with the following themes in mind:
Education and the Cycle of Pedagogy
I love to learn, and I am constantly learning. I’ve always felt this
way, but I was profoundly affected by a chance interaction with a stranger
on the last day of my last medical school rotation. I was studying Cardiology
at the National Heart and Lung Institute at the Royal Brompton Hospital
in London. I met a gentleman at a corner Pub down the street from the
hospital. We struck up a conversation about medicine and why I had chosen
to pursue Neurology as an area of specialty. I told him that the brain
was like the “Final Frontier” in medicine. Much was known
about the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs. The musculoskeletal
system was very straightforward. I was fascinated by all there was still
to learn about the brain. He looked me in the eye and asked, “You
don’t really believe that everything that’s been “learned”
about the other organs and systems is actually true, do you?” His
response shaped my approach to Neurology, Pain Management, and Medicine
in general. There are opportunities to learn, represented by the things
we know that we don’t know. But there is also a humble acknowledgement
that even the things we think we know should be continuously re-considered
with an eye for opportunities to learn more, expand the related fund of
knowledge, or even disprove and update with a more accurate understanding.
With insight, experience, and understanding comes an obligation to educate.
We define pedagogy as the method and practice of teaching, especially
as an academic subject or theoretical concept. I believe studying how
the brain works significantly improves successful teaching. I strive to
educate all patients and clients because I believe in education as therapeutic
intervention. When patients and clients understand information, the brain
triggers several responses that contribute to health and healing. I also
strive to educate other medical professionals, trainers, coaches, league
and school administrators, agents, attorneys, juries, and judges in ways
that result in effective knowledge transfer. As a Neurologist, I understand
that brains make models and organize information in certain ways. One
way to optimize an educational experience when teaching is to organize
information and present it in terms of
content,
concepts, and
context. I believe that progressively ascending to higher levels of understanding
begins with teaching
content (lists, definitions, and pieces of information; one way to think about
this level is that it consists of information that can be memorized).
Next, teaching
concepts (understanding relationships between pieces of information and developing
the ability to constructing metaphors) contributes to an elevated grasp
of information. Finally, information can be understood in context (how
that topic, subject, or issue exists in the real world and under practical
circumstances).
Continuous learning, and purposeful focus on the best ways to transfer
knowledge are major components of my philosophy and approach.
Aequanimitas
Sir William Osler’s famous essay
Aequanimitas was given as the farewell address to medical students at the University
of Pennsylvania in 1889. It was also the title of my Medical School Yearbook
in 1992. In the essay, the concept of Aequanimitas is used to discuss
the connection between the soul of the healing practitioner and the soul
of the patient. It implies a deeper connection than just the discussion
of physical signs and symptoms. I’m paraphrasing discussions and
descriptions on this concept, but according to Osler that calm, balanced
and compassionate underlying quality of the healing relationship originates
in the mind and soul of the healer that resonates with the mind and soul
of the person seeking to be healed. I practice in a technologically advanced
environment. Our Center for Sports Neurology is state-of-the-art, with
access to cutting edge diagnostic equipment, brain-training technologies,
Neuromodulation tools, computer, and tablet-based instruments. I believe
that all the technology, all the science, all the brilliance we offer
in a healing relationship is not only enhanced by, but only possible when
framed with Aequanimitas – an understanding of the source of health
and healing processes.