and geography). He then then went to the West Coast where he did graduate and doctoral work in practical theology and counseling. Before coming to Baylor, Hoy pursued clinical work for 16 years. He ran bereavement and counseling programs for large, community-based hospices in Long Beach, California. The End of Life Care and Bereavement course is another step that the Medical Humanities Program has taken to reach their overall goal: improving healthcare. The class was added when Hoy joined the staff due to his expertise on the subject. In this class, students ex-
I suppose that when push comes to shove and I have to choose between a fine scientist or a fine bedside manner, I want the best scientist. Marcum replied with, “why should we have to choose?”
questions and thinking strategically about medical issues in ways that I myself never thought about in graduate school. It has been a shockingly wonderful thing,” Hoy said. “The other thing is the nature of getting to work with a team of people who really understand and get what it is we are trying to do together, and that is to improve healthcare.”
Photo Credit: Lauren Kelley
plore the process of death, integrating personal and scientific care. Hoy’s career, which spans nearly 30 years, has always been focused on the end of life and the ways people make social meaning of death. This includes how societies make sense of death through funerals, and how societies deal with it emotionally. His newest book, Do Funerals Matter? The Purposes and Practices of Death Rituals in a Global Perspective was published in March of 2013. When asked what his favorite moment has been at Baylor, Hoy replied with two things. “The first is the relative brilliance of the men and women who go to school at Baylor. The type of thinking, for example my students who I’m mentoring for their honors’ thesis…they are asking 15