Dr. Allan Hamilton

Dr. Allan Hamilton: Program Outlines

Spirituality: When Are Doctors Ready to Talk About It?
Synopsis: Drawing from the stories of real life patients, as well as his personal journey from janitor to Harvard-trained physician, Dr. Hamilton explores answers to a myriad of questions. Do dreams play a vital role in our lives? What do near-death experiences tell us about what life may hold after death? Can hope change a patient’s recovery? Can we prove consciousness exists independent of the mind? What can we do to emotionally and spiritually enhance our own recuperation?

In addition, Dr. Hamilton tackles the topic of why healthcare professionals feel it is scientifically reasonable to accept the harmful effects of negative emotions but not the beneficial effects of positive feelings. He concludes with why he believes that American Medicine is on the threshold of a spiritual, holistic revolution.

Can American Healthcare Recover? How Medical Errors Are Killing Us and What We Need to Do to Fix It
Synopsis: In this timely lecture, Dr. Hamilton exposes the crisis in the public’s lack of confidence and trust in the American Healthcare system. He discusses why medicine in the United States is spiritually ill, and why increasing numbers of doctors and nurses are leaving the medical field out of disgust and disappointment. He proposes that American Medicine needs to set about fixing itself the same way corporations need to reinvent themselves to stay successful and competitive. He offers concrete examples of where concentrated efforts can produce large reductions in error rates. Finally, he offers a simple but radical solution for patients and healthcare workers to forge new bonds based on mutual trust and fulfillment.

From Barnside to Bedside: How Horses Teach Doctors the Secrets of Better Bedside Manners
Synopsis: Ten years ago Dr. Hamilton had a notion that doctors would be far more respectful about their body language and bedside manners if their patients all weighed 1200 pounds. He developed an entire curriculum for medical students to help them learn non-verbal communication skills by working closely with horses.

Dr. Hamilton’s program had now been replicated at nearly a dozen universities around the world. In this moving presentation, Dr. Hamilton shares the lessons he has learned and shows videos demonstrating the powerful “voice” of our body’s language.

Medicine and Emerging Technology: For Better or Worse?
Synopsis: Dr. Hamilton has spent his entire medical career developing and applying emerging technologies in surgery from computer guidance systems to virally-induced genetic therapy. In this presentation, he explores the future directions that the newest, high-technology may be taking the medicine and the problems and promises they could hold for patients and physicians alike.

Using examples drawn from the Hollywood screen to the battlefield of Iraq, Dr. Hamilton analyzes the way in which technology is created to address the problems of the present but can evolve to pose future unexpected results – both good and bad. From the humanistic potential of alternative medicine to the efficiency of medical records embedded in implantable chips, from the elimination of surgical error by robot to the cold culling of patients’ prognosis by computer, Dr. Hamilton delivers an entertaining, tantalizing, and, occasionally, alarming look at what may lie ahead for all of us in the healthcare system.

The Heroic Journey of Spiritual Transformation: Can I Still Get A Ticket or Has the Boat Left Without Me?
How and when does spiritual transformation happen in a person’s life? Is it a random event, like being struck by lightning? Or is there some way of knowing the journey is coming up? And if it is, what should we pack for the trip? From Greek legend to real cancer survivors, from the story of Buddha’s enlightenment to near-death experiences in the operating room, Dr. Hamilton explores what qualities and characteristics define those pivotal transformational experiences that can change why we live and how we live. He works with audiences to see what “rules” may help guide us on the heroic journey that we all face in our own lives because, in the final analysis, we all seek answers to the same questions: “Why are we here and what is the purpose of our lives?”