TEACHERS AS ARTISTS
A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils. ~Ever Garrison
Although I am at a medical conference, I am seeing magnificent art. No, I have not been sneaking off to view Vancouver’s many wonderful museums and galleries but rather, I have been seeing a “performance art” by one of my profession’s master teachers. Because I am a doctor and an artist I live in two very different worlds. I have been spending time this week at an annual physician meeting with some of my oldest professional colleagues. All of them are cheerfully curious and at least, outwardly, non-judgmental about my “other” life as an artist. One of them, Len Dzubow, is always interested in my work while simultaneously and most wistfully bemoaning his own lack of “artistic gifts.” In this, he is sadly mistaken. His problem is his definition of art. Len is an unparalleled teacher of cutaneous surgery and of the art of medicine. A long time professor at Penn, he has mentored numerous surgical fellows. Having done some of this kind of work myself, I know it to be much more difficult than it looks. Having ultra-smart and highly motivated young physicians in daily close contact is an extremely stimulating and challenging endeavor. However, the experience teaching these highly ego-charged fellows is often like driving down a mountain without brakes: you are traveling at break-neck speed but with very little control-and no escape. The job requires being both personally gifted at the craft of surgery and imaginative in finding ways to get very smart strong-willed people to learn. The thing is, Len’s fellows are everywhere. I have watched one speaker after another at this surgical meeting and most of these young turks, the best and the brightest actually doing the work and dragging us old guys along, share one thing in common, they were Len’s fellows. This is the ultimate in performance art. The Talmud says that, “When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.” So it is for our profession as well. Because of Len’s art, craft skills honed in a wealth of imagination, the next generation of students will be well served. I am grateful Len likes my art, all of us should be grateful for his.