Charles L. Bardes, M.D., will present the final Heberden Society Lecture of the 2008–2009 academic year on Wednesday, May 6, at 5 p.m. in Uris Faculty Room (A-126) at 1300 York Ave. The title of the lecture will be "The Greene Sicknesse and Clinical Fantasy." The lecture is open to the public; light refreshments will be served.
In the lecture, Dr. Bardes will elucidate themes from his 2008 publication "Pale Faces: The Masks of Anemia." The book, published by Bellevue Literary Press, is an extended essay on the cultural and mythological layers of a common disease state. The title of the lecture derives from one of the book's chapters that deals with "green sickness" (also known as the disease of virgins) that was well-known in the time of William Shakespeare, but is no longer diagnosed. As one reviewer wrote: "Charles Bardes' meditations on medicine ... are beautifully — transparently — written, deeply informed, consistently probing the implications of their subject matter, and they carry surprise."
Dr. Bardes, who received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University (summa cum laude) in 1978, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1986. Following residency at The New York Hospital, Dr. Bardes has served actively on the faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College as director of the medicine clerkship and as associate dean of admissions. He has received numerous teaching awards and wrote the book "Essential Skills in Clinical Medicine" (FA Davis, 1996) as a guide for students and interns. Dr. Bardes practices general internal medicine and is an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
The Heberden Society, which will sponsor Dr. Bardes' lecture, was established here at the Medical Center in 1975 as a means for promoting interest in the history of medicine. The society sponsors three lectures during each academic year.