The petition
We, the alumni of Stanford University School of Medicine, are proud to be part of the academic excellence of Stanford. In addition to craving the knowledge offered by Nobel laureates, world-class researchers, and renowned academics, we value those who nourish and inspire our vision of compassion and humanism. For us, that inspiration was -- and continues to be -- Dr. Elliott Wolfe, whose values and achievements are exemplary.
Throughout his tenure, for generations of Stanford Med students, Dr Wolfe has exemplified the art of medicine. He has been a champion of professionalism, an authority on physical diagnosis; he instilled in many of us the sacredness of the doctor-patient relationship and restored our love of the doctor’s art. He kindled our belief in the future of the profession and taught us the finer aspects of leadership -- bravery, integrity, self-sacrifice, and the highest diligence for patient advocacy. Dr. Wolfe represented -- and continues to represent -- the best practices of medicine.
We believe -- with the deepest conviction -- the decision to terminate the contract of the longstanding renowned educator, Dr. Elliott Wolfe, because of changes in “programmatic need” secondary to the creation of the Educators-4-Care (E4C) program is a mistake. This egregious action discounts the contributions he has made and the values he represents, which ironically are the core values of the E4C program. We question the new directions and corresponding values of the new proposal. Your action, therefore, compromises our support of Stanford Med’s long-range plans; we cannot and will not support a program whose execution disrespects the one person who exemplifies our highest principles.
Sadly, we will not, we cannot, support Stanford Med –- ethically or financially --as long as leadership decisions create a schism in our most basic professional values. We believe the decision to fire Dr. Wolfe is a formidable error in the implementation of Stanford’s long-range educational plans; we now question the capabilities of all the current leaders of the School of Medicine. The decision regarding Dr Wolfe was made without knowledge of how gravely it would be interpreted and the impact it will have on current medical students and generations of Stanford Med alumni. A current student said, “our school needs Dr. Wolfe.” We respectfully request you reconsider the action to remove Dr. Wolfe; we honestly regret our current decision to suspend support of the School’s leaders and the essence of our alma mater.
Sign the petition
Fields marked * are required.