IN REMEMBRANCE
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an ethical life of personal fulfillment that also
aspires to the greater good. Dr. Randy Schrodt
remembers her most for her devotion to human-
ity and her commitment to helping physicians
maintain their own humanity during their train-
ing and throughout their careers.
Hannakuh in Belgium
and founded the Association of Women Psychiatrists. In 1999,
under her leadership, a position paper dealing with standards of
appropriate behavior helped improve an institutional culture that
was often responsible for medical student harassment, mistreat-
ment and abuse. “Dr. D” was available day or night to her patients,
giving them her home phone number in the age before cellular
phones. She became a researcher of the Holocaust, which led her
to lecture, write and conduct video interviews of survivors, both
Jewish and Catholic, in the US, Europe and Israel.
Colleagues and friends recall Dickstein as a “mover and shak-
er” who was nonetheless content to make a difference outside of
the spotlight.
“Her tremendous love, generosity, caring and compassion for
family, colleagues, students and patients was mixed with her will-
ingness to address injustice and speak truth to power,” said one
colleague.
Another said, “Leah always believed that you were more ac-
complished than you realized and that you were qualified to ac-
complish more than you’d imagined.”
The Association of Women Psychiatrists awards the The Leah
J. Dickstein, MD Medical Student Award “to recognize a female
medical student who best exemplifies the spirit of creativity, ener-
gy, and leadership that Dr. Dickstein herself epitomizes and seeks
to foster in others.”
She lived by the Hebrew principle of “tikkun olam,” meaning
“to repair the world.”
Leah’s life embodied a compassionate fortitude committed to
beneficent action, a type of humanism. She encouraged us to lead
12
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
To quote Leah: “Each of us has our own
touchstone for humanism—an experience, a
role model, an inspirational writing. It is time
for each of us to draw on that touchstone and
make it more real in our daily lives. Let it inform
every encounter with a patient, let it inform the
work within each health system to make it more
humanistic, and let it inform how each of us ex-
presses our citizenship. Let us use our expertise
and professional standing to speak out on issues
that are important to our values and our pa-
tients’ values.”
I am among countless physicians today who owe their success
in large part to the unwavering encouragement of Dr. Leah DIck-
stein.
Survivors include Herbert, her husband of 64 years, sons Stuart
(Dr. Nancy Shapiro) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Daniel (Dr.
Elizabeth Jacobs) of Barrington, Rhode Island, and Dr. Steven (Dr.
Elissa Nelson) of White Plains, New York, and adored grandchil-
dren Zev, Gefen, Jacob, Yona, Maddie, and Hannah.
- Donn Chatham, MD