5:00 p.m., Hoehl Gallery - Event and Reception: “The Gift Revealed: Art, Observation, and Gratitude,” a conversation with local artist Mary Lacy

The humanities play a central role in supporting medical professionalism by cultivating the moral, relational, and reflective capacities that shape physicians’ professional identities. Through engagement with literature, ethics, history, the arts, and social sciences, humanities education fosters kindness, compassion, altruism, accountability, respect, integrity, social responsibility, and cultural humility by promoting ethical reflection, attentiveness to lived experience, and critical awareness of social and cultural contexts of care.

Join the Arts@Larner for an event that brings together art, storytelling, and reflection on the role of observation and gratitude in professional and personal development. The evening begins with an informal reception and art viewing, featuring a new piece by Mary Lacy and student-created vases in honor of anatomic donors and inspired by messages from their families. 

The program will include an interactive discussion on the “Art of Observation” led by Jeremiah Dickerson. A student panel then reflects on the impact of participating in the project, followed by an in-depth interview with artist Mary Lacy, who shares insights into her creative process, including her engagement with students and families and the development of the featured artwork. 

12:00–1:00 p.m., Sullivan Classroom: “Professionalism During Tumultuous Times,” keynote presented by Dr. Richard Schwartzstein, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Richard Schwartzstein is the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Medical Education at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and chief emeritus of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). A graduate of Princeton University and HMS, Dr. Schwartzstein has been an active clinical educator and has pursued both physiological and educational research since he came to the HMS faculty more than 30 years ago. 

At the outset of his clinical career, Schwartzstein’s research focused on the relationship of basic physiological mechanisms of breathing and respiratory sensations with dyspnea (shortness of breath). His pioneering work helped illuminate the association of qualitative descriptors used by patients to describe their breathing discomfort and physiological mechanisms underlying their disease. 

Schwartzstein became executive director of the Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at HMS and BIDMC and vice president for education at BIDMC in 2004. His textbook, Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach, received a national award for its interactive style. He is the recipient of multiple HMS and national teaching awards, including the Robert J. Glaser award of the AAMC and the Outstanding Educator Award of the American Thoracic Society, as well as the Jane F. Desforges Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Physicians.

His education research focuses on the development of pedagogical approaches to enhance analytical reasoning, techniques to maximize the benefits of small-group teaching, and assessment of the role of simulation in medical education. Most recently, he has been addressing the shortcomings of artificial intelligence as a means for analyzing clinical problems.

On the final day of Professionalism Week, we celebrate all nominees and award recipients by featuring them on social media and digital screens.

2:00–2:30 p.m., Sullivan Classroom: Awards Presentation 

2:30–4:00 p.m., Hoehl Gallery: Reception & Food Drive to Benefit Rally Cat’s Cupboard