RT Book, Section A1 Epner, Daniel E. SR Print(0) ID 1190085554 T1 Preface T2 Empathy: Real Stories to Inspire and Enlighten Busy Clinicians YR 2022 FD 2022 PB McGraw Hill LLC PP New York, NY SN 9781260473414 LK hemonc.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1190085554 RD 2024/10/13 AB I REMEMBER SITTING in a large auditorium for an introductory biology course as a Stanford undergraduate in 1979 on the day when an esteemed member of the faculty named Paul Berg was scheduled to give the lecture. A black wooden captain’s chair emblazoned with the Stanford logo awaited his arrival at center stage. Just as class was about to begin, I felt the unholy sensation of the earth moving in waves beneath me as a large chandelier swayed menacingly overhead. Not knowing what was happening, I nervously looked at my friend Bill in the seat next to me. Bill was raised in California, so he just shrugged and matter-of-factly said, “Earthquake,” as I silently prayed for the chandelier above us to remain attached to the ceiling. A few moments later, Dr. Berg sat in that elegant chair as he described his lab group’s success at cloning a gene for the first time, a discovery for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980. That minor earthquake paled in comparison to Dr. Berg’s earth-shattering discovery, which ushered in the era of molecular genetics and created a tectonic shift in medical science. I quickly became enthralled by stories of scientific discovery and vowed to join the molecular genetic revolution. I spent 20 hours per week in a research lab during my final 2 years of college and experienced the thrill of discovery for the first time. My career trajectory was set: I would be a physician-scientist.