Louisville Medicine Volume 64, Issue 2 | Page 22

PRACTICING AND LIFE MEMBER CATEGORY WINNER 2016 RICHARD SPEAR, MD, MEMORIAL ESSAY CONTEST psychological or social component, although it is all of those things. Medicine is a spiritual discipline as well. And while I left my faith “on the coat hanger” when I saw patients prior to Ethiopia, upon returning home, I made sure the spiritual component was taken seriously with each and every patient. Harold G. Koenig, MD, Professor of Medicine at Duke University and world expert on spiritual components of disease, states in his book, Medicine, Religion, and Health, “There is mounting evidence from randomized clinical trials and prospective studies that religious beliefs and practices have positive effects on coping and speeding remission from emotional disorders…(therefore) religious beliefs have the potential to impact not only mental health but physical health as well.” From a mountainside in Ethiopia to trips all over the world to a West End clinic in Louisville, medicine has changed me and will continue to change me. No longer is it just the science of medicine, but the doctor-patient relationship of caring for the whole person, that ultimately matters. David Dageforde, MD, is a retired interventional cardiologist and now serves as Board Chair for the Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center. HOW OLD IS YOUR ROSTER PHOTO? Take advantage of a special deal and move into the 21st Century Hollie Colwick Photography is currently offering a discount for GLMS members. Business portraits for GLMS physicians are a specially discounted rate at the Hollie Colwick Photography Studio. Digital copies and prints are available at a variety of reasonable prices. For more information, email [email protected] and mention GLMS! www.holliecolwick.com [email protected] 20 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE