PHA is thrilled to introduce our new blog series, “The Doctor is In”, featuring monthly articles and photographs from Dr. Don Batisky.
For those who don't know, Dr. Batisky is PHA's Executive Director. In addition to his work with PHA, Dr. Batisky is a practicing pediatric nephrologist and a professor in the Emory School of Medicine.
The Doctor is In, Volume I
Reflections on the summer come to mind as we start a new
semester and a new academic year. It’s
that time of year when the biggest question that you might be asked is ‘how was
your summer?’ I’m not sure about you,
but I had a very busy summer and it’s not really over yet. The current calendar is a challenge. We finish the academic year in May, which
really is still spring time, and we return now at the end of August, so there is
still a bit more summer to go. My summer
was busy. Busy with all the usual
things…travel for both work and vacation, catching up on projects that don’t
get done during the school year, enjoying time with family and friends,
spending time in the hospital and the clinic seeing patients, and of course,
waiting for students to return.
I’m going to use this opportunity to tie together a couple
of my interests. I am an amateur iPhone
photographer, and I enjoy traveling. In
addition, as I work my way through the day to day goings on of my life, I
reflect and try to pull together elements of life that might seem a bit
disconnected. So, I plan to use this
space to share a pic or two that I took, and then I will try to add some
insight into that pic. Maybe an idea of why I took it, and what struck me about
that view.
Here’s the first one:
One of the trips that I took this year was to participate in TRACE, The Renaissance Academy at the Center for Ethics, which allowed me to spend a week in Italy. During one of the sessions while in Matera, one of the other participants was discussing his experience and posed a question to our group: “Is art a window or a mirror?’ In other words, can we see ourselves in art or is art a look at the world from another perspective. As I thought more about that, it struck me that art can actually be both -- a window and a mirror. And then a couple of days later, while wandering through an old castle, I stumbled upon this view. A room of art that had an actual mirror in it! And it became even more apparent to me that art can serve this dual purpose.
The other metaphor that seems appropriate about this pic is that one must take time to reflect. To stop, to notice, to observe and to participate. As the academic year kicks off, I encourage you to also take that time to reflect on all that is happening around you. Here’s hoping that we cross paths and share stories. I encourage you to stop by the Pre-Health Advising office to meet all of us, to share some stories, to tell us about your summer. And to take time to reflect on what you’re doing…and why you do it as well.
