By Paula Zepeda
How does one become a skilled and caring physician?
This question lies at the heart of Masterclass in Medicine: Lessons from the Experts, co-edited by Jason Liebowitz (ΦBK, Johns Hopkins University) and published this past fall. The book offers stories from renowned physicians from around the world, each reflecting on essential aspects related to clinical excellence in the medical world that have rarely been explored in a single volume.
The book contains a series of essays covering different topics ranging from more scientific-based ones like clinical reasoning to more philosophical ones like what it means to be a “good doctor.” One chapter Liebowitz highlights as “beautiful” is titled “Bach on the Hudson, or the Transformative Creativity of Attention,” in which Dr. Rita Charon regales the reader with a philosophical meditation on employing the attention that one brings to a work of literature in the practice of medicine.
Taken together, these essays contribute to a broader vision for the book. Speaking more on this vision, Liebowitz stated: “We rarely are afforded the opportunity to experience the collected wisdom of master clinicians as they share their thoughts on topics that touch so many of us as physicians. We believe that this book provides readers with this chance, and we encourage doctors to come back to this text again and again over the course of their careers.” He also added, “we hoped to create a book containing the collected wisdom of these doctors on key topics such as clinical reasoning, mentorship, empathy, learning from mistakes, and other themes relevant to the practice of medicine.”
Along with the physicians in the book, Liebowitz is an active member of the medical community, specializing in rheumatology. He shared that he was first inspired to go into medicine by his grandfather, who served as a general practitioner and was “an incredible role model.”
After completing his undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Liebowitz attended medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident. Afterwards, he completed a Rheumatology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital and was nominated for the 2019 Distinguished Fellow Award from the American College of Rheumatology. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and co-director of the Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology medical student course at Columbia University. His work has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, Arthritis Care and Research, and The Journal of Graduate Medical Education, among other journals.
He first became involved with the editing process of Masterclass in Medicine: Lessons from the Experts after previous collaborations with cherished colleagues, Marcy Bolster, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program at Harvard Medical School, and Philip Seo, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Liebowitz noted that, collectively, “We have long thought of medicine as a personal and human-centered art and science, and we wanted to create an anthology of essays on an important question: How does a doctor become a master clinician? We thus sought to bring together many of the most respected and admired clinicians from across the country and the world to answer this question.”
Some of the most rewarding aspects of the editing experience, Liebowitz noted, included the opportunity to work with “so many of [his] personal heroes in medicine,” two of them being Dr. David Hellmann and Dr. Roy Ziegelstein. In addition, his time spent editing this book shaped his outlook on medicine. His advice is to “never rest on your laurels—always try to keep growing as a doctor regardless of age or experience.”
However, the editing process is not without its challenges, one of them being the selection of a diverse group of authors to represent doctors across different medical specialties, ages, genders, ethnicities, and geographic locations. Although this book addressed the challenge, future editions are planned to include more clinicians who are doctors of osteopathic medicine and primary care physicians.
The challenges and collaborative environment that Liebowitz was immersed in during the creation of this book exemplify the value ΦBK places on lifelong learning. “At its core, Phi Beta Kappa recognizes the unfettered pursuit of knowledge,” he said. “While it is a great honor to be inducted into the society as a recognition of academic achievement, what I most cherish is knowing that there is an organization that so fervently continues to promote liberal arts education in all its glory. I continue to be inspired by the intellectual achievements of other members of the society, and I hope I can instill this love of learning in my children.”
Masterclass in Medicine: Lessons from the Experts can be purchased on Amazon or from Taylor & Francis Group. Liebowitz additionally mentioned that an audiobook version of this book will be released this coming year, and he said there are currently “plans to produce future volumes including past authors as well as new voices in medicine that would represent a diversity of medical specialties and demographic backgrounds.”
Paula Zepeda is a recent graduate of University of California, Los Angeles who majored in Political Science with a minor in Latin American Studies. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in spring 2024. UCLA is home to the Eta of California chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.