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Doctor/Filmmaker Gretchen Berland Named a 2004 MacArthur
Fellow
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 Gretchen Berland, Pomona College Class of 1986, has been
named a MacArthur Fellow, by the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation for her work in medicine and
documentary film.
Commonly known as “the genius grant,” the MacArthur
Fellowship is a $500,000 grant of “no strings attached”
support, distributed over five years to individuals who
demonstrate extraordinary “originality, creativity, and
potential to do more in the future.”
Dr. Berland is a physician who utilizes her experience in
both medicine and documentary film and journalism in order
to highlight important points about improving health care.
She is the creator of the video “Cross-Cover,” which
presents the experience of a medical internship in a
first-person perspective, examining the various changes that
happen in the aspirations and attitudes of the young doctors
in the program. The MacArthur Foundation considers the frank
documentary to be “a valuable tool for improving the quality
of medical care.” Berland’s more recent project, “Rolling,”
uses the video diary format to document the experiences of
several people who, for varying medical reasons, require
wheelchairs for mobility. By placing the camera in the hands
of her three subjects, she presents their struggles to
maintain independence and dignity in the face of their
disabilities, from a compelling and informative vantage
point.
Berland has also served as lead author on a survey of health
information resources on the Internet. The study found that
health care consumers, those with lower reading skills in
particular, face significant obstacles to locating accurate,
complete, and understandable information on a variety of
common medical problems.
“Patients are becoming increasingly invisible in our health
care system,” says Berland. “As we try to move toward
creating a more patient-centered system, it’s important to
know about our patients’ lives, and we don’t do that any
more. We don’t make house calls any more, and we see our
patients for only 15-20 minutes in clinic.”
“Through her efforts,” the Foundation notes, “Berland
prompts physicians and the public to consider several key
questions about health and society: how we learn about our
own health, how physicians teach and learn, and how
affliction creates physical and social barriers that often
pass unnoticed.”
After graduating from Pomona, Berland produced programs for
PBS Television’s NOVA series and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions.
She returned to school and received her M.D from Oregon
Health and Science University in 1996, completing her
internship and residency at Washington University Medical
Center in St. Louis, Barnes Hospital in 1999. She was a
fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program
at the University of California, Los Angeles (1999-2001).
Since that time, she has been an assistant professor in the
Department of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of
Medicine.
The MacArthur Foundation announced its 23 grant recipients
for 2004 on September 28, 2004. This year’s recipients work
in various fields, from molecular biology to ragtime piano,
and all are considered by the Foundation to be particularly
instrumental in effecting progress in their respective areas
of expertise.
The MacArthur Fellowship is an honor awarded strictly on the
basis of a confidential evaluation process. No person may
apply to receive the fellowship; he or she must be
nominated. “The new MacArthur Fellows,” according MacArthur
Foundation President John. F. Fanton, “illustrate the
Foundation’s conviction that talented individuals, free to
follow their insights and instincts, will make a difference
in shaping the future.”
Pomona’s ties to recent MacArthur grant winners include
David Foster Wallace, the college’s Roy Edward Disney ‘52
Endowed Professor of Creative Writing and a professor of
English, who received the award in 1997,and alumnus Brian
Tucker, Class of 1967, who received the award in 2002 for
his innovative work preventing readily avoidable disasters
in the world’s poorest countries, by using affordable civil
engineering practices.
Each year, for 24 years, the announcement of the new
MacArthur Fellows has been a singular opportunity to
celebrate the creative individual in our midst,” said Fanton.
“The MacArthur Fellows Program remains at the core of the
Foundation’s efforts to recognize and support individuals
who inspire us.” Since it began in 1981, the MacArthur
Fellows Program has honored 682 individuals of ages ranging
from 18 to 82, all of whom were chosen for their initiative
and originality.
Pomona College is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions, offering a comprehensive program in the arts,
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Its
hallmarks include small classes, close relationships between
students and faculty, and a range of opportunities for
student research. Visit Pomona College on the web at
www.pomona.edu. |
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