The summer 2017 issue of The Ohio Family Physician depicted the many joys in medicine. The stories published provide self-reflection on how to find happiness in practice and in personal life!
Meet Linda Stone, MD, the quintessential joyful leader, in the following segment. Look for other happy stories in upcoming editions of the Weekly Family Medicine Update, on the OAFP website, and on the Academy’s Facebook and twitter pages.
“Give me a hug!”
This joyful leader in medicine greets everyone with a big smile.
She is the leader of humanism in medicine and a medical student mentor extraordinaire. She is a mastermind at keeping physicians and medical students happy. Joy is her life’s core and as a result, people gravitate toward her. She is Dr. Linda Stone.
Dr. Stone has given many hugs as a wife, mother, grandmother, high school English teacher, professor, organized medicine leader, theatre enthusiast, family physician, and lover of LaChatelaine, a restaurant in Worthington, OH, that serves French cuisine.
Her joy helps others find their joy!
Teach Kindness
Patients look for kindness when selecting and relating to a physician. Sure, physicians are inherently kind, but sometimes they succumb to burnout and lose the humanistic side to medicine. Likewise, there is evidence that students lose empathy for other people during medical school. How do you teach compassion to medical students, physicians, and other health care professionals? The answer is Dr. Stone.
Dr. Stone has a strong reputation for mentoring medical students to become fantastic physician leaders. She even has an award in her name at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine—the Linda C. Stone Award in Mentoring. Impressively, she has been asked by as many as 18 students at a time to hood them during medical school graduation. A significant source of joy for Dr. Stone is working with students, providing them with work-life balance resources, and helping them find personal bliss. Dr. Stone has been recognized several times throughout her career for her commitment to well-being, but perhaps her most significant contribution is the OSU College of Medicine Humanism in Medicine Program.
Once Dr. Stone retired from the OSU College of Medicine, the dean approached her about starting a project on well-being for students, residents, faculty, and staff. A part of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Gold Humanism Honor Society, the Humanism in Medicine initiative began in fall 2009. While not a mandatory curriculum requirement, the program provides an outlet for approximately 80% of the College of Medicine students and other health care professionals.
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation recognized OSU’s Humanism in Medicine Program as the best in the country. The program focuses on ways to care for patients, educate students and residents, and pursue research. Humanism in Medicine includes Medicine and the Arts, Medicine and the Arts Roundtable, Educators with Heart, Courage to Teach, Humanism in Medicine: Residents, and Humanism in Medicine: Students.
Medicine and the Arts
Dr. Stone developed Medicine and the Arts as the first Humanism in Medicine series based on her observations, beliefs, and physician burnout trends. The series serves as an escape for students, faculty, and staff and allows them to engage in the arts and music during medical school. It thanks the people who put their heart and soul into health care. Medicine and the Arts provides a schedule break from feeling the weight of dealing with illness, ill-tempered patients, and other stressors.
“We don’t want anyone to operate in survival mode,” said Dr. Stone.
Medicine and the Arts helps individuals retain who they are and take care of themselves. In collaboration with area arts organizations, the program brings in performers and offers opportunities in dance, theatre, music, arts, writing, and poetry. There has been one art show annually since 2012. Fifty-five artists participated this year. People can submit art for display or just take a break the day of the show to walk around and analyze all of the pieces. There are the Educator with Heart Workshops for the staff, the Courage to Teach Program, theatrical events, roundtable discussions, and even culinary events.
“We want people to stop by on their lunch hour or break to enjoy performances by Opera Columbus, BalletMet, Thurber House, or Columbus Children’s Theatre,” said Dr. Stone.
There is an extensive list of community organizations that participate in Medicine and the Arts. Board members include faculty, residents, staff, and students at the OSU College of Medicine; representatives from Nationwide Children’s Hospital; two community members; and representatives of the other seven colleges that encompass the 700 level science programs. Funding for the series comes from the medical school, medical school alumni, and private donors.
A lot of work went into creation of Medicine and the Arts, and as result Dr. Stone is highly sought after to come speak at colleges of medicine across the country. On May 17, in recognition of her work, Dr. Stone received the Governor’s Award for Arts in Ohio presented by the Ohio Arts Council.
Overcome Stage Fright
The impact of Medicine and the Arts on students is profound. No event happens without a student champion. There is an orchestra; singing group named the Ultrasounds; arts magazine; and groups for dance, theatre, film, visual arts, and photography. Approximately 90% of the students that participate find a mentor during participation in one of these groups.
In a video produced on Medicine and the Arts, students said that they had become emotional leaders and rejuvenated people through their participation. They learned not to forget who they are and not to forget people skills. They take comfort knowing that their peers also sometimes struggle in medical school. They want to take care of themselves now, so that they can take care of patients after medical school. At the end of the video, Dr. Stone is featured giving hugs to all of the students!
Cory’s Orchestra
A powerful example of Dr. Stone’s influence on medical students is the story of Cory Coles, MD. Dr. Coles is now a resident at Riverside Methodist Hospital Family Practice Residency in Columbus. Dr. Coles chose OSU for medical school because of its focus on the arts. Growing up taking piano lessons and earning a biological science degree from a liberal arts college, Dr. Coles was pleasantly surprised to learn that the OSU College of Medicine emphasized the connection between the arts and sciences.
“Medical school can be isolating and time consuming. Music is an outlet to help break up the monotony,” said Dr. Coles.
Dr. Coles and Dr. Kate Collier, both second-year medical students at the time, approached Dr. Stone with the idea to start a medical school orchestra. Of course, Dr. Stone loved the idea and gave permission to determine interest among the students. Drs. Coles and Collier sent out 70 emails to students, and received 60 responses. The orchestra performed its first concert with 20 student musicians. Of the 20, over half of the students showed up consistently to practice. One hundred people attended the first concert. Dr. Coles’ parents traveled from Oklahoma to be in the audience.
The orchestra eventually added a winter and spring showcase; dental and veterinarian students joined. Memorable performances for Dr. Coles include playing the theme to Star Wars to patients at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and performing Rhianna’s “Stay” for a member of the OSU administration and his wife who had just lost their daughter.
“It was an emotional, pretty amazing experience,” said Dr. Coles.
An excerpt from Dr. Coles’ family medicine residency personal statement captures the essence of these orchestra and Medicine and the Arts experiences:
“…This forged an opportunity for many people to realize that despite the demands a medical education requires, there are benefits to be gained by striving for balance and cultivating the humanistic aspects in all of us that can be expressed in music. As a result, the medical school community benefited from the profound talent held within the student body, which lies far beyond the classroom or hospital setting.
Where did this leave Dr. Coles upon finishing medical school? Well, life is full of surprises. He originally planned to practice pediatric anesthesiology because of its prestige and money. However, he kept an open mind during his third year of medical school. Since his Mom is a pediatrician, he was familiar with primary care. An outpatient internal medicine rotation peaked his interest in primary care. After a rotation at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in pediatric anesthesiology, Dr. Coles realized that specialty lacked the continuity-of-care so important to him. Of course, Dr. Stone supported him along the way and continuously gave him hugs.
I Knew It!
“I knew you would be a good family physician!” This was Dr. Stone’s reaction to Dr. Coles confirming his decision to choose family medicine.
“I realized that there really was only one specialty that I could have chosen, and that is family medicine,” said Dr. Coles.
Despite their surprise at his specialty choice, his family supports his decision. Dr. Coles’ wife is a fourth-year medical student who participates in the dance portion of Medicine and the Arts.
“Dr. Stone is one of the most beloved people that I know. She is well respected and is never upset with anyone. She helps so many people in their career path, and you can see her commitment when she hosts the Medicine and the Arts core leader group at her house,” said Dr. Coles.
Dr. Stone shows students how to combine personal and professional life. She stresses the impact of family and relationships during medical school and beyond. She, and the Medicine and the Arts Program, are the reason that Dr. Coles chose family medicine.
“And, she loves LaChatelaine restaurant. She meets everyone there; she calls it her office,” said Dr. Coles.
A Family Affair
Behind the hugs is a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Dr. Stone finds complete joy in her family! Her husband, Larry, and her two grandchildren are part of the Ohio medicine and arts communities. Larry does all of the creative promotions for the Medicine and the Arts Program; he creates brochures and is the videographer. Her grandchildren participate in CATCO and the Columbus Children’s Theatre during the summer.
By combining her professional and personal life, Dr. Stone leads students by example in demonstrating work-life balance. She brings the arts and sciences together to create joy for patients, students, colleagues, and anyone else in her presence.
The Joyful Leader
Dr. Stone is the quintessential joyful leader! She touches so many lives in so many ways.
The Humanism in Medicine Program and the Medicine and the Arts series are dedicated to creating a more humanistic environment in which to care for patients and educate students and residents. The programs are designed to help the medical community come together through the healing process of the arts.
Who better to lead these initiatives than Dr. Stone—a leader in using the arts to nourish humanity among family physicians, medical students, and all health care professionals!