Gifts at Work
Philanthropic gifts have made a difference for our medical students, faculty and programs as well as the community. Take a moment to discover how:
- Clarence Holland Inaugural Lecture
The Clarence Holland Lecture was established by a gift from an anonymous benefactor to recognize the contributions that Dr. Holland has made to the wellbeing of Virginians and to the ethics of health care. An alumnus of the Class of 1962, Holland practiced as a family physician for 42 years and served as a state senator for more than a decade. - Gifts at Work publications
Inaugural Clarence Holland Lecture
Lecture Carries Alum’s Name, Focuses on Health Care Ethics
Clarence Holland Lectures
The Clarence Holland Lectures was established by an anonymous benefactor to recognize the contributions that Clarence A. Holland, M.D., has made to the wellbeing of Virginians and to the ethics of health care. An alumnus of the Class of 1962, Holland practiced as a family physician for 42 years and served as a state senator for more than a decade.
Dr. Larry Green was the inaugural Holland Lecturer. He is chair-elect of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine, founding director of its research policy center and a member of the Institute of Medicine since 1991.
Against a backdrop of D.C. debates on health-care costs, coverage and legislation, the Inaugural Clarence Holland Lecture challenged medical faculty and students to speak up.
In a talk titled "What’s the Right Thing for Doctors to Do, Once They Know?” Larry A. Green, M.D., professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado, reflected on the ethical problems inherent in today’s health care system.
Tony Kuzel, M.D., the Harris-Mayo Chair in Family Practice, welcomed Green to the podium, saying “The things he writes about, talks about are things that matter. They’re important for getting you to think and act. I have been one of those people so affected.”
Holland Lecturer Dr. Larry Green (left) is joined by (from right to left) Family Medicine Chair Dr. Tony Kuzel as well as brothers and classmates Clarence A. Holland, M’62, and William E. Holland, M’62. Dr. Bill Holland was on hand to mark the inaugural lecture that bears his brother’s name.
Presenting nearly two dozen “things we know,” Green chronicled the health care system’s shortcomings. He accused America’s system of delivering mediocre results at high prices and charges its watchdogs as preferring it to serve as a powerful economic engine rather than producing health.
Green described the U.S. health care system as ranking among the world’s nations as the sixth largest economy, supporting his point that “It’s not that we don’t have enough money, it’s that we haven’t made up our minds to spend it for a healthy population.” Those excessive health care costs, he argues, are due not just to the aging population, but to duplication, poor design and a lack of will.
Acknowledging that his presentation was just one man’s opinion, Green says he does not necessarily expect his audience to agree with him. But he does hope to provoke discussion.
“What I would agitate and advocate for is for you to speak your minds,” he encouraged his audience. “For physicians to remain silent is wrong.”
