Michael Attas, MDiV, MD
Every day of my four decades as a doctor, I experienced what it is like to try to uphold the higher moral mission of the medical vocation while navigating the bureaucratical and economic demands of the system. I felt the repercussions of the growing dysfunctions. I saw the benefits and dangers of merging medicine and technology. I witnessed the changes that have led to the breaking point we are at now.
Medicine brought me to my knees in gratitude and reduced me to tears more than I care to remember. It humbled me, broke me, hurt me, lifted and healed me. It left me both enlightened and confused.
And yet not once did I ever wish to do anything different with my life.
It pains me to see troves of doctors – many still young – so disillusioned, angry, and burned out that they are considering leaving the profession they not so long ago saw as their holy calling. It troubles me to see patients lose trust in physicians and the medical system.
In spite of this, I remain hopeful.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
My career has given me a deep inside look at the human condition, its mysteries, gray areas, highs and lows – all of which we come face-to-face every day in the hallways of our hospitals.
Early on, I got drawn into what I call “narrative healing:” understanding our patients’ very real and complex stories beyond the diagnosis and symptoms list on which we are taught to focus.
I saw how this practice leads to improved care, greater trust, and better outcomes. I witnessed how it sustains both patient and doctor through the often impossible realities of illness. The bonds I created with my patients and their families through that still live on to this day.
“So many times I’ve thought back to your kindness and how much of your heart you gave to Mom and all of us. Seeing you every day was my tether to sanity. You were the only one who ever cared how I was doing. Your book’s chapter on Mom took me right back there. The description of the love you felt while literally holding her heart in your hands touched me to the core and brought solace even after all this time.”
DAUGHTER OF THE FIRST PATIENT I LOST
MEDICAL HUMANITIES
In 1999, I founded the Medical Humanities Program at Baylor University. It was the first - and is still the largest – pre-med program of its kind.
There, I helped students explore the inseparable link between humanity and medicine through stories of brokenness and redemption, pain and loss, joy and despair.
I fostered their understanding of the ethical, spiritual, economic, and narrative aspects of health care that lie beyond the ordering of tests and the prescription of medications and treatments. The reflections I brought to the classroom later became the base for my book.
My students still reach out to me and tell me that what they learned there is the lifeline that keeps them committed to the profession in spite of its unraveling.
“I am who I am because of the lessons of Dr. Attas. The Medical Humanities courses he founded at Baylor University were by far the most important of my education – more than any of the sciences in the pre-med coursework.”
ALLISON SELLNER
MD Obstetrics & Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine
I believe it is in this same approach that lies the key to solving the deep-seated problems our healthcare system is facing today.
In this last chapter of my career, I want to use my earned-in-the-trenches understanding of narrative healing and the human condition to help hospitals and medical practices heal themselves.
And spark concrete ideas for how to build a new system that works for everyone.
CREDENTIALS
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Medical Degree | University of Texas at Galveston, 1973
Residency and Chief Resident, Department of Internal Medicine; Cardiology Fellowship | University of Kentucky Medical Center, 1973-78
Board Certified | American Board of Internal Medicine, and Specialty of Cardiovascular Diseases
Fellow | American College of Cardiology
Served on the Board of Directors of the McLennan County Medical Education & Research Foundation
Member | American Heart Association, Texas Medical Society, and McLennan County Medical Society
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Founder, Former Director and Faculty | Medical Humanities Program at Baylor University
Faculty | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas), Department of Medicine at Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Wyoming College of Human Medicine & Family Practice Residency Center, University of Colorado Medical School
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Lifetime Meritorious Achievement Award in Health Care (Baylor University, 2015)
Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award (UTMB, 2015)
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Master of Divinity with a focus on Ethics and Moral Theology | Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest
Served on Board of Trustees of the Seminary of the Southwest and the Episcopal Health Foundation
Co-Chair of the Grant Committee for the Episcopal Health Foundation, Diocese of Texas; responsible for the distribution of approximately $350M in annual grants to improve health care in Texas