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Q&A: Charlie Brown, D.O. (’09)

Meet one of our newest alumni, Charles A. Brown, D.O. (’09). He is the first OU-COM student to complete the Humanism in Medicine rotation at Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute in West Virginia. As a medical student, he thrived on rhyme—turning anatomy and pharmacology lessons into memory-aid raps.

Interview by Colleen Kiphart
Photos by John Sattler

Did the Humanism in Medicine rotation at the Gesundheit! Institute (GI) change how you think about and practice medicine?

In medicine, we are in a profession that is based on humanism, but different factors—like the business side of practice and the hierarchy in the system—can distract from the purpose of medicine: to help all in need without discrimination.

This rotation opened my eyes to situations in hospitals that weren’t being addressed in a humanist manner. It was great to see individuals who share my beliefs on and desires for what health care can be, especially those who have been out in the field—seeing how they have tried to reshape and challenge the system.

How did this rotation relate to your osteopathic training?

I believe that the principles of osteopathic medicine should be the principles of medicine in general. Everyone should have a holistic view of medicine. If you have a person in front of you they are not just a single system or symptom. The GI rotation took this same approach.

I found osteopathic medicine and the humanism in medicine training to be very congruent.

During your first year, you composed an anatomy rap to help you study. How did you come up with the idea?

People all have their own mnemonic devices. I’m an audiophile, so music works for me. I mostly like to listen to, write and perform hip hop. 

For me, when it comes to retaining lists of facts, making a rhyme works almost every time. So that’s what I had to do during our anatomy immersion.  There weren’t clear cut ways to memorize all the muscles and bones. I also did it with pharmacology—related to drug interactions—and few other subjects.

I would walk around with my mp3 player, just listening to the song or humming along. During exams I would be running through a verse in my head. I would look at an answer and be like, “no, that line isn’t right because it doesn’t rhyme with the question.”

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