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WASHINGTON – The head of the Smithsonian Institution issued a stirring defense of the arts, humanities and social sciences, telling thousands of cardiologists Friday that "wisdom gleaned" from those fields can make them "better, more empathetic" doctors.
In a keynote address at the opening of the annual meeting of the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology, said "science isn't enough to solve the world's thorniest problems. We need the social sciences, art and humanities too."
His remarks set a provocative tone for the meeting, coming just a day after President Donald Trump sent a budget to Congress that proposes to eliminate funding for the
The two agencies have a total budget of about $300 million and have supported theater, film, literature, music and other cultural activities from thousands of nonprofit organizations since they were established more than 50 years ago.
There are those in Congress who have declared Trump's budget "dead-on-arrival," but many Republicans, who control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, have had the endowments in their cross-hairs for years.
Skorton, who is also a cardiologist and a jazz flutist, didn't mention the proposed budget or the Trump Administration directly. He was invited to deliver the address – the ACC's Simon Dack Lecture – and the topic was decided several months ago.
Thus the timing of his talk immediately after release of the Trump budget was coincidental, but nevertheless "impeccable," said chair of the ACC's program committee for the meeting. "It underscores the ACC's interest in supporting and emphasizing the importance of the arts and humanities," he said. Kuvin is chief of cardiovascular medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H.
Skorton's comments also served to illuminate the political debate. "Arts, humanities and social sciences can help us connect and communicate in a time of division," he said.
Skorton cited an association between the arts and scientific excellence, pointing to research showing that Nobel laureates in the sciences "are much more likely than their scientific colleagues to be involved in the arts and humanities." Albert Einstein, he noted, often played Mozart on his violin while working out his general theory of relativity.
There are, Skorton said, "important national economic benefits" attributed to the arts and humanities. Nearly 40 million Americans "create for a living," he said, including about 45% of the workforce in Washington. In 2010, the arts generated about $135.2 billion of direct economic activity, he said, citing survey data from the Americans for the Arts. A total of 8 million people work full-time in the arts and humanities.
The disciplines also help fuel innovation. A partnership between the NEA and the Defense Department using art therapy to help veterans with traumatic brain injury proved so successful that Congress allocated money last year specifically to broaden the program, he said. The Japanese paper-folding art called origami influenced the development of a stent by Oxford University researchers.
But limiting their value to a "utility" shortchanges the importance of the arts and humanities in our professions and out lives, he suggested.
"There is a reason we hang art on our walls and venture out to hear live music and watch theatrical productions," he said. "There is a reason the words of Shakespeare or Angelou or Springsteen move us. There is a reason we gather in temples, cathedrals, libraries and museums.
"The reason," he said, "is that we learn fundamental truths about ourselves."
His message resonated among cardiologists at the meeting.
Asked about the importance to her life of the arts and humanities, the incoming president of ACC said simply: "My undergraduate major was French literature." The arts "broaden us as people and if we're broader people we're better able to care for our patients,' added Walsh, who is medical director of heart failure and cardiac transplantation at St. Vincent Heart Center in Indianapolis.
a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston said reading novelists such as George Santayana and Fyodor Dostoyevsky provide "rich, colorful descriptions of a human being's journey through life" that help him take into account a person's life "beyond the impact of their illness" when considering treatment decisions.
Antman, who is a past president of the American Heart Association, said one of his patients had a particularly traumatic event early in life that likely contributed to development of hypertension. He said his appreciation for the patient's experience – enhanced by personal narratives he has read in novels – has influenced how he has prescribed medication for the patient.
Skorton's talk also reflected emerging concerns about medical training and about how doctors can better achieve a work-life balance.
Medical schools, including one at the Mayo Clinic, which has a large medicine and humanities program, are beginning to favor students with a background in arts and humanities over those with a limited focus on science.
"Medical schools and residency programs are realized that those (focused almost exclusively on science) "aren't necessarily the people we want caring for us," said a Mayo cardiologist. "It's a good thing for physicians to have a world view. It makes us more rounded physicians who can relate better to our patients."
Having an interest in the arts can also improve quality of life, she said. "Burnout is a big deal among physicians. If you have something outside of medicine that brings you joy, do it."
As secretary of the Smithsonian, Skorton oversees an enterprise of science and arts that includes 19 museums and galleries, 20 libraries and the National Zoo. It also includes the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
"The arts, humanities and social scientists are all necessary for an examined and fulfilled life," he said. "An examined and fulfilled life is our goal, no matter our profession or background."
is an award-winning journalist who previously covered medicine and healthcare for the Wall Street Journal.