The Inspiration Behind Creativity and Madness

Keeping up with science in our fields is essential: the latest in neurotransmitters, drugs and interactions; the developments in theories and testing. But it is not enough. Our conferences are unique. Empathize with Vincent Van Gogh as he struggles to maintain his sanity, how, near the end, he painted in a frenzy trying to achieve what he wrote to his brother Theo, “I want to touch people. I want them to know what is in the heart of a lonely, irascible man like me”.

Feel the excitement of Camille Claudel as she becomes Rodin's student, mistress, and competitor. Know her desperation as she encounters obstacle after obstacle to the recognition of her genius, and her sorrow as she is confined to an asylum for the final years of her life. Become aware of her tragedy as she is oppressed and destroyed by the culture in which she lived.

Enrich your soul, to bring the best of who you are to your patients, as you help them find their way through the woods.

The American Institute of Medical Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. Amy Panter Vail, Psy.D. is the Executive Director. Jacqueline Berz Panter, BA, MA and Barry M. Panter, MD, Ph.D. are the Senior Advisors. The Institute was founded in 1981 by the late Mary Lou Panter, RN and Barry Panter, MD, Ph.D.

A Note From Barry

Dear Friends, Hello,

Let me tell you about how all this got started. The trigger was, I got angry.

Many years ago, my late wife Mary Lou and I had wanted a third child, but it didn’t happen after nine years. So we moved on. Every year we went skiing with our daughters Amy and Adrienne. We had all the plans in place for a week at Snowmass, when Mary Lou, at last, became pregnant again. Instead of skiing, we decided to go to Maui for the week. I noticed two medical conferences would be there while we were there. One was on antibiotics, the other on pain. I wasn’t into pain, so I enrolled in the antibiotics conference. On the first day of the conference, I walked out of the beautiful Hawaiin sun-drenched field into the meeting room. I took my seat. The lights went out, and an image of bacteria went onto the screen. Then another slide of bacteria and another. After 20 minutes I got mad. I didn’t come in out of the sun to sit in the dark and look at bacteria. So I got up and left. I was angry. When I got back to the room, Mary Lou asked, “What’s going on?" I told her and added, “Why doesn’t someone put on a conference that is interesting, the spouse can attend, they can sit by the pool or at dinner and talk about what they heard.? She said, “Why not do it? That was part of the start of it.

In 2014 my wife, Jacqueline came up with the brilliant idea of the Women of Resilience Conferences. We run these two conferences.

I hope you will enjoy reading my blogs as they come out. I welcome any suggestions: What you are interested in reading; How to improve the blogs; Anything you like or don’t like about the blog, and our conferences.

You can reach me at barry@CreativityandMadness.com