UMass Chan Gold Humanism Honor Society inducts 39 members

The UMass Chan Medical School chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society inducted 39 new members on Wednesday, May 28, including 29 medical students in the Class of 2026, six residents and four faculty members, all recognized for their kindness and humanistic approach to clinical care. 

The mission of the Gold Humanism Honor Society is to honor medical students, residents, fellows and physician teachers who are exemplars of quality patient care, exhibiting excellence in leadership, compassion and dedication to service. Student inductees in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2026 were recognized for supporting families affected by substance use disorder, completing training to become a firefighter while in medical school and securing funding to donate nearly 100 beds for kids in Worcester, among other accomplishments. 

Medical student Aastha Pokharel, a GHHS member in the Class of 2025 who will begin her family medicine residency at the Institute for Family Health following UMass Chan’s 52nd Commencement on Sunday, June 1, was presented with the student Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. The faculty winner of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, GHHS faculty inductee Phillip Fournier, MD, professor of family medicine & community health, delivered the keynote address. 

“I learned you can’t get too close to patients for your own emotional health, which went out the window because I’m very personable. I’ve shed a lot of tears with my patients,” Dr. Fournier said. “When I was talking to a patient with Alzheimer’s, I turned to her husband to clarify something, and she yelled at me: ‘I’m the patient, not my husband! You talk to me.’ In a lucid moment, she said that, and I was mortified because whatever motive I had for doing that was wrong. From that moment, I always asked my patient if I could turn to the people accompanying them. That changed my whole way of practicing.” 

“You will have your own journey, whether that’s short encounters as an anesthesiologist or surgeon, or long-term relationships like I had,” continued Fournier. “You’ll practice whatever your definition of humanistic medicine is. It doesn’t come easy. You need patience and diligence. If you tell a patient you’ll get back to them because you don’t know the answers, you’ve got to get back to them. I’m pumped for your careers moving forward in medicine. It’s a great job.” 

Inspiration for the Gold Humanism Honor Society, named after Arnold P. Gold, MD, a pediatric neurologist, began in the 1990s when medical educators and residency program directors expressed a need to easily identify residency applicants with outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills. 

“This is an active organization. It’s not just an honorific organization. We are eager to see what the new inductees are able to accomplish from this time on, as members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society,” said Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, in his closing remarks. “We’re incredibly proud as you continue to embody these attributes in your practice. This is truly a wonderful place, largely because of what people like you do in your daily lives.” 

At the conclusion of the program, members stood to recite the Gold Humanism Honor Society Oath, which calls upon physicians to advocate for each patient as a unique individual, serve as a role model and mentor, to promote humanism in health care and to make health care optimal for all. 

Commencement attendees can spot Gold Humanism Honor Society members from the Class of 2025  sporting gilded graduation cords.

This year’s GHHS inductees, from the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2026, are: