Chicago residents Carolyn Bucksbaum and her husband Matthew are donating $42 million to the University of Chicago to create an institute devoted to the improvement of patient-physician relationships, according to a New York Times report.
The Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence will be led by Mark Siegler, MD, the physician from University of Chicago Medical Center who inspired the Bucksbaums’ donation. After receiving care from an arrogant physician elsewhere, Ms. Bucksbaum met Dr. Siegler, a general practitioner who prefers to go by Mark. She was impressed with his compassionate care and humble nature, as Dr. Siegler is a medical ethicist who still makes house calls and offers his cell phone and home phone numbers.
The institute will aim to place compassion and empathy on the same pedestal as science and technology, according to the report. It will develop new courses on the patient-physician relationship and rely heavily on junior faculty members and older practicing clinicians to provide mentorship.
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