AUGUST 29 • 2024 | 45

career exemplified moral courage or 
other times when their integrity as 
physicians was tested,” he says.
“(Carpenter) 
did a good job 
of bringing 
in examples 
that helped us 
understand some 
of the choices that 
were made,” adds 
Shepherd. “It was 
really helpful as I 
tried to imagine 
myself as a future 
physician and 
facing similar 
situations.”
Concurrently, 
Carpenter says the 
sessions helped 
him understand 
how students were processing the 
experience. He calls them “amazing 
… courageous, thoughtful and 
mindful.”
“Everyone walked in as individuals 
who knew each other, but they 
walked out as more of a family,” he 
says. “People were openly sharing 
how they were feeling, what they 
were struggling with.
“I was really impressed with them, 
and I think they’re all different 
because of this trip,” Carpenter adds.
Much of the last day was spent 
reflecting on the week. It included a 
lecture from Krzysztof Antonczyk, 
head of Auschwitz’s digital archive 
and tour guide, that was titled “Why 
am I here? The meaning and human 
value of our work in Auschwitz.” 
Time also was dedicated to allow 
students to discuss trip-related 
projects they plan to pursue upon 
their return to the U.S.
“It was an amazingly impactful 
experience for the students,” 
Wasserman says. “The student group 
was phenomenal and took it with the 
seriousness that the topic deserves.”
A seven-week seminar follows the 
OUWB Study Trip to Auschwitz, 
taken for credit as part of the 
Medical Humanities and Clinical 
Bioethics (MHCB) 3 course, 
in which students discuss and 

reflect upon the trip experience, 
the relevance of this history to 
contemporary medicine, and 
develop projects to 
disseminate what 
they learned at a 
symposium dinner 
as well as to other 
community groups 
at OUWB, OU and 
beyond.

‘CASCADE OF 
COMPASSION’
It can take awhile 
to completely 
process a visit 
to a place like 
Auschwitz.
But Carpenter 
says he’s already 
given it a 
tremendous amount of thought, 
especially with regard to how it will 
impact the students for the rest of 
their lives.
“They’re not only going to be 
better physicians, but they’ll make 
the physicians around them better, 
too,” he says. “
As they move into 
leadership roles throughout their 
careers, there will be the obvious 
cascade of technical knowledge, but 
also a cascade of compassion and 
humanism.”
Carpenter adds that he believes the 
students “will be stronger individuals 
because of the experience, too.
“They’re going to be able to reflect 
back on what they saw, heard and 
learned and ask themselves if it 
can be applied to situations they 
encounter,” he says.
The unique insight afforded by the 
study trip also left Carpenter feeling 
even more proud of the students who 
graduate from OUWB.
“This type of program makes us 
the school that we are,” he says. “Our 
focus on humanism and medicine 
is obvious in a lot of other areas, but 
this really brings it home.
“You can’t get this experience in 
any other way,” he adds. “This is the 
most moving, sobering experience 
I’ve had as a dean, and I think the 
students and faculty would agree.” 

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PUZZLE ANSWERS

Solution to puzzle in 8/22/24 issue.

1. Mulch bag on right

2. Green shovel in blonde woman’s hand

3. Green shutter on left

4. Pink flowers to right of man in blue

5. Porch light