BACK OF THE BOOK
PASHions
PASHions will highlight what ASH Clinical News
readers do creatively outside of practice. If you have
a creative skill in the arts you’d like to share with
ACN, we invite you to submit your work. Whether
it’s photography, essays, poetry, or paintings, we
want to provide an outlet for creative pursuits.
Please send your submission to ashclinicalnews@
hematology.org.
In this issue, Stephan Moll, MD, discusses his love
for woodturning and how it has changed the way
he looks at the world. Dr. Moll is a hematologist at
the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with a
special interest in thrombosis and anticoagulation.
As the Lathe Turns…
Clockwise from left: Pear bowl;
exterior of Dr. Moll’s workshop; Dr.
Moll in his workshop; Hickory bowl.
One physician’s passion for woodturning
What sparked your interest in woodturning?
It happened by chance a few years ago: I have always enjoyed building and repairing things, including working with wood, but I had never
taken any lessons to develop or enhance these skills. In 2011, though,
I was flying to a medical meeting and happened to sit next to a hobby
woodturner. The conversation with him led me to visit the monthly
meetings of the Woodturners Guild of North Carolina in Raleigh.
Soon after that, I drew up plans for a 360-square-foot woodworking shop as an addition to our garage, had it built, bought a lathe, took
woodturning lessons, and started turning wood.
What do you enjoy most about woodturning?
I love learning about wood – seeing the different, and always unique,
structures and patterns when one cuts the wood, turns, sands, and
polishes it. Now that I know more about wood, I look at the world
around me differently, too. I am able to identify individual trees and
notice details about the wood they are made of. Part of the joy of
woodturning is imagining what the tree’s wood might look like if I had
a chance to turn it. I also very mu