“To best care for patients, it is not enough to listen with a stethoscope and to view an echocardiogram. Patients are more than heart sounds and heart images. By photographing my patients in their homes and by writing about them in poems, I have learned much about them as people. By learning to know who they are in this manner I find I can take better care of them; and by learning to know them in these ways I learn more about myself as well. I will present photos of patients and poems I have written about my patients, accompanied by both photographs of the patients or images from tests they have undergone.”
Joseph Gascho is a cardiologist, Professor of Humanities and Medicine, at the Penn State Milton S Hershey College of Medicine. He is a photographer and poet. He has several permanent photography displays on exhibit at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and his photography and poetry have been published in numerous venues. Dr. Gascho is a Karuko (number game) addict; visiting London is a passion.
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