Julius "Jay" Kaplan:
Physician, Healer, Poet
Jay Kaplan was valedictorian and one of the two National Merit Scholars in our Newman class. From Newman Jay went to Harvard College, graduated Cum Laude in Social Studies, and attended Harvard Medical School. He married Amber Rose Kaplan in 1984, and presently they are living in British Columbia, Canada. Jay has not retired, but has rather “re-fired,” which means he gets to do the things he loves to do and not do the things he doesn't. They have three adult daughters, Mia Penelope Kaplan, Chelsea Louise Kaplan, and Julia Lynn Kaplan.
In addition to excellent academic preparation, what Jay remembers about Newman were some inspiring teachers, such as Mr. Phister and Mr. Behrend, and some very dear friends. He was involved in many activities, made excellent grades, won awards, and served in leadership positions. He and his debate partner were the runners up in the Louisiana Debate Tournament; he played in the Newman band and the pep band; he was a recipient of the regional Ford Foundation’s Future Scientists Award in his sophomore year; and he served as President of the Southern Federation of Temple Youth (SOFTY). He gave the commencement speech at our graduation ceremony. Jay’s twin sister, Linda Kaplan Pniak, was in our class as well, and Jay feels grateful to Linda for being the more social of the two and making his life at Newman easier. Jay and Linda were close in high school and have remained close as adults.
Jay and Linda at their 75th birthday.
Jay was not a member of any of the cliques, and he never cared for hanging out and drinking. He felt out of the mainstream at Newman and was willing to stand up for those members of our class who were on the periphery socially. In talking with Jay, I had the sense of his being the outstanding student and leader that he was but also someone who was willing to “go against the grain.” That willingness surfaces in his career time and time again. In fact, his insistence on talking about patient experience would be known as “the Kaplan virus” when he was focused on improving quality of care in the emergency room at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey. He was discussing concepts like patient experience, accountability, well being, and wellness before these topics were popular in the media. Jay has the courage to do what is not popular and to go against the norm but in a way that is successful. His goal as a physician has always been to “revolutionize how we give care in medicine and to revolutionize how people work.”
Following his graduation from Harvard Medical School, Jay made the unusual choice to go into Family Medicine. He moved to northern California to do a residency in Family Medicine and Holistic Health at the University of California at Davis and also began exploring alternative medicine and healing at the Esalen Institute. As a family medicine resident he helped to create the first university-based home style birthing center in the US, and he created a slide show called “The Poetry of Birth: The Beginning of the Dance of Life.”
After finishing his residency he accepted a faculty position at UC-Davis but then decided to return to the East Coast to be near Gabrielle Roth, the creator of a conscious dance method, theater director, author, and musician. Jay had met his future wife Amber at a weeklong workshop led by dancer Gabrielle in 1978 and Gabrielle would become a mentor and important person in both their lives. Gabrielle Roth was the creator of a moving meditation method called the “Five Rhythms.” She also had an experimental theater company, and Jay and Amber were both members of the company and assistants in Gabrielle’s workshops. Gabrielle used movement and theater as healing arts, and Jay healed his back and himself through his work with Gabrielle.
In New Jersey he worked at Saint Barnabas Medical Center for twenty-one years. He was Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and eventually President of the Medical Staff. He was at Marin General Hospital in Marin County, California, for 13 years. Having served as President of the American College of Emergency Physicians for one year, he is proud of his wide-ranging accomplishments in addressing issues of firearm violence, the opioid epidemic, insurance coverage, and physician well being. In 2001 he began a career as a consultant, coach, and speaker in the areas of clinical quality and improving the patient experience. We see his Newman debate experience re-emerging as he traveled three to four days a week, giving 250 to 300 talks a year on topics such as avoiding physician burnout and promoting resilience.
Jay has a website, JayKaplanMD.com, with video clips of talks and some of his poems. For a sample of one of Jay’s talks, click on this button.
Both Jay and his sister Linda have a strong sense of compassion and have served others in their professional careers, Jay in medicine and Linda in education. Their compassion and concern for others were nurtured in family traditions. Jay was very close to his physician father, Murrel Kaplan, MD (1911-1986), and followed in his footsteps in becoming a physician. His father specialized in internal medicine and worked at Touro Hospital for fifty years (1937-1986). As a child, Jay accompanied him on house calls and rounded with him in the hospital. After his death Jay and Linda established an award in his honor called The Compassionate Physician Award, given each year to the Touro physician who most embodies his values of compassion, empathy, and caring.
Concern for others also stems from the maternal side of the family. Their grandfather Julius Goldman was director of the “Community Chest,” an organization that assisted the poor in New Orleans. Jay’s paternal grandfather came to the US from Lithuania and worked as an itinerant peddler in Mississippi, doing well and settling in Louisville. He died when Jay’s father was seventeen, and the money he left for his six children was used for his oldest son to attend law school. He in turn enabled the next sibling to go to medical school, and gradually all of the children were educated and became professionals.
Jay’s father attended college at Washington & Lee and medical school at the University of Louisville. He married Jay’s mother, Louise May Kaplan (1917-1988), before World War II, and he wrote to her every day during the war while serving as a physician in the 64th General Hospital in North Africa and Italy. Like most of our fathers, he did not talk about his war experience. The papers of Captain Murrel Kaplan are in the Tulane University Special Collections, and he is quoted extensively in a master’s thesis about the 64th General Hospital, "The Tigers and the Army: The LSU School of Medicine During World War II."
Jay has been journaling and writing poetry for most of his life. In addition to Gabrielle Roth, the poet David Whyte has been a mentor. A poem that I found very moving is called, “She Knows You Are Coming,” and you can listen to Jay reading it here.
Several of his poems are printed below:
Images of my life
Images of my life
and how it would pass
born of the perceptions of a boy
and then young man
watching his father's life pass
now broken
having fallen off the wall
struck the ground on its corner
and shattered
on my hands and knees
sifting through the pieces
I cannot be put back together
no despair
this is not the time for it
I have watched women give birth
assisted them in their labors
guided their deliveries
celebrated with them their creations
now I am pregnant with an unborn life
my own
and
am frightened of the pain and the unknown
of bringing it forward
I do not want any painkillers
though a good midwife would be welcomed
the process takes time
and
will not be altered by my impatience
no certainty as to outcome
I only know there is no turning back
my life
the new one
is about to be born
I think I finally understand
it is a thin veil between
a terrified grimace and an excited smile
breathe
breathe
push
The Guest of Honor
what if
when the banquet begins
the tables are covered with just ordinary food and drink
the guest of honor is toasted for his imperfections
his mistakes in life celebrated
the applause begins and does not stop
he smiles and asks for quiet
grateful
filled with awe
those in the room are not seeking someone to look up to
but someone to sit next to
he does not seek adoration
but rather to be in the company of friends
in the midst of this experience
time is lost
each moment filled with astonishing fullness
glance toward the door
no one is leaving
there is a secret untold
everyone gets to take a turn
at the head of the table
Jay Kaplan
6/6/02
Talking about the future
Plain dry words
and arrogant exuberances
do not move us
flowers and inspiration
do
we search for reminders
connecting mind to heart
healing to daily living
there is no figuring it out
there is no future worth anything at all
without the
arm in arm
hand in hand
eyes to eyes
bridge to spirit
you and me
crossing over hazards
with firm steps and astounding assurance
we race on the leading edge
together
without fear
of falling off
Jay Kaplan
3/14/02
Knowing Jay at Newman, one might have guessed that he would become a leader in medicine and lecture around the country on topics like physician burnout and resilience. But one might not have guessed that he would also become a member of an avant-garde experimental theater company, study dance as a healing modality, and write poetry. Now that he is in “re-firement,” he hopes to publish a volume of his poems soon. We are looking forward to its publication!