Last Thursday, January 25, the Department of Internal Medicine hosted a special Grand Rounds: one in honor of the wealth of discovery, knowledge, and kindness that Stephen McGowan, MD, MA, contributed to his workplace, his patients, and his colleagues over his 40-year career at University of Iowa Health Care. McGowan came to the University of Iowa in 1986, when both he and his wife, Mary Wilson, MD, were recruited by Robert Clark, MD, who at that time was the division director for Infectious Diseases.

Pulmonary Division Director David Stoltz, MD, PhD, kicked off the lecture by discussing McGowan’s career trajectory, including his earning a master’s degree in intercultural studies 14 years after joining the university, serving as section chief at the Iowa City VA for pulmonary critical care from 1999 to 2022, serving on the VA ethics committee from 2005 to 2017, “and then continued to provide his expertise to the ethics committee during the height of the Covid pandemic where difficult decisions were having to be made. Dr. McGowan’s quiet, unassuming, and humble nature has often led him to go unnoticed and unrecognized for his extraordinary efforts and dedication to the Iowa City VA and the veterans we serve.”

The guest lecturer for Ground Rounds was Robert Cargill, PhD, an associate professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Iowa. Cargill completed pre-med curriculum and earned a bachelor’s degree in human physiology early in his career, and also worked with the inmates at the Anamosa Penitentiary, something he had in common with McGowan, who provided service to the Newton Penitentiary when earning his MA. Cargill’s lecture, Health Care in Antiquity with a Biblical Perspective, spoke to McGowan’s career in the sciences as well as his propensity for the humanities.

Cargill gave a pensive, and at times, humorous lecture, weaving threads connecting Hippocrates and Galen to mentions of medicine in the Old Testament and its practice in medieval times. After addressing its appearances and practice in the New Testament, Cargill made his intention with these examples clear:

From this text, we learn that Jesus doesn’t stop healing people simply because he isn’t properly appreciated, and this is because he’s not in it for the thanks or the money or even the prestige of being a well-respected physician, Jesus healed people because people needed healing and he had the talents to alleviate suffering. It was a calling, it was a mission, a ministry, a sense of duty.

… And this is why Dr. Steve McGowan, professor in pulmonary critical care and occupational medicine, who led pulmonary care at Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center for over two decades, did what he did. It was a calling, it was a service, and this is what righteous individuals do. Whether it’s caring for veterans or people in other countries on medical mission trips, choosing to reach out and to touch those individuals in need, or whether it’s his lifetime of researching, publishing, and teaching countless students here at the University of Iowa, passing on not only the science of his craft but his empathy and teaching students to show mercy to those who need it most, Dr. Steve McGowan has exemplified the characteristics we’ve discussed today found in the greatest physicians of all time, be it Hippocrates or Galen or Jesus himself. Congratulations, Dr. McGowan, on a career worthy of celebration.

Minutes later, in a small reception nearby, staff and faculty got a similar chance to offer their congratulations and celebrate McGowan’s career. Shannon Fesler, ARNP, talked about how McGowan would do anything written on a yellow Post-It Note; Lakshmi Durairaj, MD, MS, described and read tolerant and gracious emails from McGowan from over the years, citing that he was never a squeaky wheel, but instead was always doing everything nobody else wanted to do.

Stoltz read remarks from Rachel Butler, MD, who described McGowan as a gentle giant. “Dr. McGowan sees the beauty and value in every human (even the spiciest of veterans), and this was reflected in his thoughtful clinical care. I’m sure he brought the same approach to his research career. Thank you Dr. McGowan, ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23). I personally can’t wait to hear about your next adventures. You will be sorely missed.”

Joseph Zabner, MD, divulged that when he was new to the university, McGowan taught him to listen—and that when McGowan spoke, it was always about doing the right thing. Jeffrey Wilson, MD, continued this theme in his remarks, stating that doing the right thing was clearly central in McGowan’s ethos, and that he had embedded this sense of morality in all his work.

At the close of the remarks, McGowan was presented with a fine art print of the University of Iowa medical campus, depicting the VA prominently at the top of the frame. “My house is just down the street from the VA,” McGowan replied, smiling, before closing remarks with his own, in which he encouraged everyone to continue the pursuit of always doing the right thing.