Jonathan King Lectures

The Jonathan J. King Lectureship was established in 1991 to encourage the compassionate and humane care of all patients. It is a part of Stanford University Medical Center's mission to enhance patient treatment and the art of caring. Free and open to the public.

A gifted computer scientist by profession and a philosopher by inclination, Dr. King was above all a humanist with a deep concern for the dignity of individuals. Three weeks before dying from cancer at age 41 in 1991, Dr. King defined key messages he wished to bring to the medical community through the lecture series. He hoped that the lectureship would communicate the need to empathize with patients and the need to provide the patients with hope, a measure of control, comfort and physical support -- including the need to hasten attempts to apply promising but unproven treatments for patients diagnosed with life-threatening conditions.

The lecture series, which features superb medical humanists from around the country, helps caregivers, patients, and their families communicate more effectively as they seek to become more knowledgeable about critical decisions affecting an individual's health care.

The Vision of Jonathan J. King, Feb. 1991

The patient is your client and should be treated with respect. Seek out and give full weight to your patient's suggestions and opinions on treatments. Never, ever treat your patient as an object or as a second class citizen.
Empathize. Put yourself in your patient's shoes as much as you can, recognizing that a fatal or harsh diagnosis separates the patient from "ordinary" people.
Foster the patient's feelings of control and hope, however small they appear scientifically. Base this on a foundation of honesty. In other words, tell the whole truth from the start, but don't fear or disparage your patient's drive for alternatives; help assure they are sensible.
Help and urge the patient to build a support system. Urge the patient to bring a companion to office visits and other important events. Encourage the patient to consult other sources of information (including other doctors) and always make medical records available.
Expect patients with a poor prognosis to alternate between "frantic" search for solutions followed by calm commitment to a plan. Be patient when your patient is frantic.
Make every extra positive gesture. They boost morale enormously and ease the feeling of being alone. Thoughtless comments rankle, and are likewise magnified. Make physical surroundings and institutional arrangements - lighting, food, etc. - as pleasant as possible.
Support efforts to speed up attempts to apply promising but unproven treatments for patients with a fatal diagnosis.

Sponsorship for the annual lectures results from the generous contributions of the Paul & Borghild Peterson Foundation, The Health Library at Stanford, Stanford Medical Informatics, the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, and other individual donors. SCBE took over management of the lectures beginning with the October 2000 speaker.