Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities

Thanks to a signature gift to the Northeast Georgia Health System Foundation from Dr. Jennings’ family, the GME program of Northeast Georgia Medical Center annually hosts “The Henry S. Jennings, Jr. MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities.” The goal for this lectureship series is to give resident physicians, local medical professionals, and the community at large new opportunities for learning from outstanding scholars in the broad and encompassing field of medical humanities for many years to come. 

“Give me eyes that see the source of all ill, hands with the touch that heals, ears that hear the cry of pain, a voice that comforts, a heart that feels.”

Source Unknown
The Legacy of The Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities
Overview of The Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities
Previous Lectures
Contact Us

Who was Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD?

Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, was a pioneer in the delivery of quality health care in Northeast Georgia. He was deeply devoted to compassionate and skilled care for his patients, along with their families.

Dr. Jennings received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Emory University in Atlanta and upon completion of his residency there in internal medicine, he was invited to become one of the founding physicians of the Emory Clinic in 1951. In 1953, seeking a smaller community in which to raise his young family, Dr. Jennings moved northward to Gainesville. Dr. Jennings was attracted to the promise and potential of the growing community and to the quality of physicians already in practice in Gainesville, with its newly completed Hall County Hospital.

Dr. Jennings spent his entire professional and personal life working to change his community for the better: embracing his chosen community, planting roots, raising his family, teaching and inspiring the next generation of healthcare leaders, and serving in numerous local and statewide leadership roles over the ensuing decades.

Dr. Jennings was a mentor to and encourager of many aspiring nurses and doctors in Gainesville, beginning at home with his own children, Betsy and Henry, both of whom became physicians.  

Previous Lectures:

The Potential, Promises, and Pitfalls of AI in Medicine

February 6, 2024
6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
NGMC Walters Auditorium & Virtual Presentation

Objectives:

  • Discuss the necessity of the human connection between a doctor and a patient, even in this increasingly technology-driven world.
  • Explore the risks and rewards that AI-enabled care poses to patients and physicians.
  • Explain how the AMA is giving physicians a seat at the table in the design and creation of new digital tools.

Enduring CME will expire on 02/06/2026

Watch the recording

Presented by:
Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH
President, American Medical Association

“You Tell My Baby’s Story for All the World to Hear” The Communal and Redemptive Act of Storytelling in Medicine

November 7, 2022
6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
NGMC Walters Auditorium & Virtual Presentation

Objectives:

  • To understand the importance of communication in caring for patients
  • To discern the importance of communal storytelling for provider wellness
  • To promote empathy for our patients and the journeys they are on

Enduring CME will expire on 11/7/2024.

Watch the recording

Presented by:
John C. Wellons, III, MD, MSPH
Vanderbilt University Medical Center / Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital

Finding Structure in Chaos: Protecting the Healthcare Workforce in COVID-19 and Beyond

December 7, 2021
6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
NGMC Walters Auditorium & Virtual Presentation

Presented by:
Joshua C. Morganstein, MD

Dr. Joshua C. Morganstein is Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Assistant Director at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. He is Chair of the Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster and Distinguished Fellow at the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Morganstein received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed a combined residency in Psychiatry and Family Medicine in the National Capital Consortium in Washington, DC.

Dr. Morganstein leads the Disaster Mental Health and Public Health education and consultation services at CSTS. In this capacity he has provided support to dozens of national and global disasters, working with local, state, national and international partners to support the well-being of individuals and communities adversely impacted by these events.

Over the past two years he’s been invited by numerous state healthcare organizations, medical professional organizations, as well as interagency and global partners to inform healthcare personnel and system leaders on critical public mental health principles and adaptation of practices and procedures from high-stress occupations to help enhance well-being and operational sustainment during the global pandemic. Dr. Morganstein was sought out to assist the New York City public health and first responder systems develop a healthcare workforce resilience program, HERO-NY, and works with National Guard on research and development of knowledge products for leaders to protect health and sustain military readiness for COVID-19 and other operations.

Dr. Morganstein provided mental health subject-matter expertise to the United Nations’ 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. He co-authored the only Curriculum Recommendations for Disaster Behavioral Health Professionals and was a co-author for a landmark Presidential report on the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States. Dr. Morganstein authored numerous articles, chapters, and technical reports on the mental health impact of various disaster events, including climate-related disasters, mass violence, terrorism, nuclear exposure, and pandemics and is Assistant Editor for the second edition of the Textbook of Disaster Psychiatry. He has studied the effects of stress and trauma in organizational settings, including the military drone intelligence community as well as personnel impacted by the 2013 mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard.

Watch the recording

Objectives:

  • Discuss the psychological and behavioral effects of pandemics and disasters on individuals and communities
  • Review an evidence-based framework for delivering interventions during pandemics and disasters

Building Diversity and Inclusion: A Voyage

December 15, 2020
NGMC Walters Auditorium & Virtual Presentation

Presented by:
Andre L. Churchwell, MD

Andre L. Churchwell, MD, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion at Vanderbilt University presented “Building Diversity and Inclusion: A Voyage.” This presentation was the kick-off to the new Diversity in Medicine Lecture Series, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Dr. Churchwell graduated from the Vanderbilt School of Engineering magna cum laude in 1975. He won the Biomedical Engineering Student Program Award that same year. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979 and later completed his internship, residency and cardiology fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine and affiliated hospitals in Atlanta. In addition, he was the first African American chief medical resident at Grady Memorial Hospital (1984–1985). Churchwell received the J. Willis Hurst Award for Best Clinical Teacher in 1991 from Emory and in 2004 he was named the Emory University School of Medicine Resident Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award winner. For the past ten years he has been named one of the nation’s top cardiologists in “The Best Doctors in America.”

Watch the recording

Physician, Heal Thyself – Finding More Joy and Less Burnout in the Practice of Medicine.

October 10, 2019

Presented by:
C. Michael Valentine, MD, MACC, FAHA, FSCAI

Local medical professionals, resident physicians and the community enjoyed the inaugural Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities that featured C. Michael Valentine, MD, MACC, FAHA, FSCAI. Dr. Valentine presented “Physician, Heal Thyself – Finding More Joy and Less Burnout in the Practice of Medicine.” 

Dr. Valentine is a senior cardiologist with Stroobants Cardiovascular Center of Centra Health in Lynchburg, Va., where he enjoys working with students and residents and has been recognized twice as Outstanding Teacher. A native of Gainesville, Ga., Dr. Valentine received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his medical degree from the University of Virginia. He completed his medical residency and fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Emory University. 

Watch the recording

Please note: As of October 2021, this video no longer offers CME physician credit.

Would you like to learn more?

To learn more about how you can support GME and their efforts to impact healthcare in our region, contact the NGHS Foundation at 770.219.8099 or visit www.nghs.com/foundation.  

For more information about the Henry S. Jennings, Jr., MD, Visiting Lectureship in Medical Humanities, please contact the director of GME, Donna Brown, at 770.219.8730.

The Jennings Lectureship series will provide opportunities to advance medical education in our region that would not otherwise be available. We are so fortunate to have these amazing learning opportunities come to Hall County. We will have a wide range of topic beginning with well-being but expanding across the medical humanities – presented by some of the best educators in the nation.

John E. Delzell, Jr, MD, MPSH
Carol Healan Burrell Professor in Medical Education
Vice President for Medical Education