“My message is to encourage everybody to find ways to advance service and put others in front of yourselves, and that is how all of us can become more empathetic,” said President Kevin Quigley. “That is a quality our world desperately needs more of.” His comments were part of an invited plenary address titled “Liberal Arts and Service: Getting Under Your Skin,” at the summer meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The meeting was at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts, from July 28 to 31, and drew doctors from across the country.
President Kevin shared his own history of service, as a Peace Corps volunteer, leader for foundations and nonprofits, and later the president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association. He lauded the community service opportunities available to AAD members and advocated for service being a crucial part of any life of purpose and significance.
“Experiential learning is critical to help young people test the theories they learn in the classroom and also try out real world applications,” he said. “Service is an especially productive way for people to do things that are necessary to succeed in life in this interconnected, complex, dynamic world we live in.”
