When he was completing his residency at Washington University School of Medicine some 40 years ago, Collins E. Lewis, MD, remembers thinking naively that he must know 90 percent about psychiatry.
“I only really knew about five percent,” said Dr. Lewis, now associate professor of psychiatry emeritus at WUSTL. “As you go on, you learn more and more.”
Although technically a retired professor, Dr. Lewis is still working 20 hours a week in the emergency room at the Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center, John Cochran Division. He also works about 20 hours at the university on research and writing. And despite his four decades of experience, Lewis said he is learning quite a bit from his time at John Cochran .
“That’s the nice thing about medicine in general,” he said. “You’re never bored. Each day is different. And you are helping people.”
On April 30, Dr. Lewis will receive the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund Dr. John M. Anderson Excellence in Mental Health Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon. The event will held at the Frontenac Hilton.
Growing up in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Dr. Lewis always thought that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a physician, perhaps a surgeon. Yet in the course of receiving both his doctor of medicine degree and master’s in public health degree from Harvard University, he decided that his experience in the surgery room didn’t “turn him on” the way that his psychology courses did.
In the 1970s, Dr. Lewis trained in medicine and psychiatry at WUSTL, where he’s remained ever since. He specializes in the treatment of substance abuse.
“When we see people, we’re helping them through their problems,” he said. “That’s gratifying when they get better.”
When he talks with someone who has a chemical dependency, he said he uses a non-threatening technique called motivational interviewing.
“You don’t want to come down and say, ‘You should stop drinking right now,’ because that sets up something called psychological reactants,” he said. “When you tell somebody to do something, they react and do the opposite.”
Instead, Dr. Lewis asks his patients questions such as, “What are the good things you get out of using alcohol?” And then he asks, “What are the things that are problematic?”
“You have to talk to them in a certain way,” he said. “It’s kind of enjoyable to interview someone and get them to see that drinking that much isn’t a good idea.”
He is particularly proud of his relationships with his patients. However, he said his proudest life achievement is his son, Jason Lewis, who works for Teach For America in New York. Dr. Lewis has twin grandsons, Everett and Benjamin Lewis.
Dr. Lewis believes that the psychiatry field overall is moving in the right direction. There is more of a focus on looking at how a person’s neurological and environmental factors interact, he said.
“You can’t say it’s all biochemical,” he said. “You have to look the environment and how people were raised.”
He said studies have shown that living in poverty or with abusive relationships affect the brain.
“Those are things that are changeable,” he said. “It’s important to change that environment.”
Looking back at his life’s work, he said he is glad he lived the advice that he’s so often given to residents over the years.
“You have to love what you are doing,” he tells students. “Do in life what you would do for free. If you would do it for free, then that’s the field to go into.”
Tickets for the 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 30 at the Frontenac Hilton are $750 per table for VIP/Corporate seating and $50 each/$500 table for Individual seating. To order tickets, call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com.
