3rd Annual David S. Svahn Humanities in Medicine Memorial Lecture
Friday, May 15, 2026
7:30 am - 9:00 am
Location
About this event
“All Roads Lead to Rome: Lessons from a Medical School Mentor… and the Italian Renaissance Artists”
The guest lecturer for this year’s David S. Svahn Humanities in Medicine Memorial Lecture will be Michael P. Flanagan, MD. The lecture is titled “All Roads Lead to Rome: Lessons from a Medical School Mentor… and the Italian Renaissance Artists.”
Anyone unable to attend in-person is welcome to view the lecture via a livestream, which will be available at www.bassett.org/svahn-lecture at the date and time listed above.
Dr. Flanagan is Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Professor of Family and Community Medicine, and Professor of Humanities, at Penn State College of Medicine’s University Park Campus in State College, PA. He also serves as Vice Chair and Medical Director at this campus, where he has worked as an academic physician for many years, seeing patients clinically, while also teaching and mentoring medical students, Physician Assistant students and residents. At Penn State College of Medicine, he received the 2020 Distinguished Educator Award and earlier this year was nominated for the Faculty Excellence in Clinical Mentoring Award. He completed the Harvard Macy Institute’s Museum-based Health Professions Education Fellowship and regularly teaches medical humanities to healthcare learners, including recent trips to Italy with pre-medical undergraduate students. His current research interests include nutrition and health, effective mentorship, and using the arts in medical education.
This lecture series is a tribute to Dr. David S. Svahn, a revered figure in the Cooperstown medical community who dedicated his life to instilling a profound sense of compassion and human connection in generations of physicians. He devoted the entirety of his 30-year career in medicine to Bassett Medical Center. The lecture series is made possible through an endowment from Dr. Svahn’s daughter, Dr. Jennifer Svahn, and her husband Dr. Jeffrey Nicastro.
In-Person Location
Clark Auditorium
Bassett Medical Center Fieldstone Building
1 Atwell Road, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Virtual / Zoom Link
Anyone unable to attend in-person is welcome to view the lecture via a livestream, which will be available at www.bassett.org/svahn-lecture at the date and time listed above.
