Lawrence Spann, PhD, PA-C

Lawrence Spann approaches the process of writing through poets, writers, song writers, artists and historical figures.

About Lawrence

Literature & Medicine

There is strong scientific evidence that writing improves immune function and overall well-being. A vast time honored literary tradition substantiates this claim. Many people fear writing and deny their deepest creative and receptive impulses. One’s best writing, like a waking dream, comes from letting go and allowing authentic and raw emotions to flow on to paper. 

Lawrence’s Background

My work focuses on making the unconscious conscious, a tall task indeed. I grew up in Buffalo, NY, and plunged into reading early, although not an inclination in my family. I was captivated by books like Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. From an early age, I researched the authors thoroughly and read everything they’d written, a pattern that persists today. At 19, I financed my hegira from Buffalo to the University of Miami, working a summer as a garbage man. After graduating as an English major, I counseled children, traveled, and worked on a construction crew in California. I returned to Florida, working as an ocean lifeguard and eventually as a firefighter/paramedic, which launched me into physician assistant training at Duke University in North Carolina. I was the Program Director of Duke University’s Preventive Approach to Cardiology (DUPAC) and Executive Director of the Lifestyle Heart Trial in Sausalito, CA. I completed a Ph.D. in creative writing at fifty, emphasizing the medical humanities. I conceived a therapeutic writing program, the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Program (LAMP), at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, where I convened hundreds of writing groups, brought in well-known authors, and published Poet Healer and Blood on the Page. LAMP received national attention as the first hospital-based writing program to appear on “Literary Row” at the biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. I relocated to Santa Barbara in 2007, resumed clinical practice, and began A Parable of Lies, published in August 2021. My spouse, Elizabeth Ann Robinson, completed her doctorate in mythology and depth psychology and finished her book, The Soul of the Nurse, during that time. Our most recent project is creating a card deck of literary quotes and questions that prompt players to excavate and share their personal stories with others. 

Formal Education

• Bachelors Degree: English; Minors in Philosophy and Psychology - University of Miami, Florida

• Bachelors Degree: Health Sciences - Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

• Masters Degree: Health Sciences - Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

• Doctor of Philosophy: Creative Writing with Emphasis in Medical Humanities - Union Institute & University

Selected Licensure and Certifications

• Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C)

• National Commission on Certification of Physician’s Assistants (NCCPA) 

• Therapeutic Yoga Teacher, Santa Barbara

• Amherst Writers & Artists Certified Writing Instructor

• Exercise Program Director, American College of Sports Medicine

Professional

• Physician Assistant, Anticoagulation Specialist, Sansum Clinic, Santa Barbara, California

• Physician Assistant, Anticoagulation Specialist, Duke University Medical Center, Hematology Division, Durham, North Carolina

• Founder & Director, Literature, Arts, and Medicine Program (LAMP), Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, California

• Instructor, New York University School of Medicine

• Executive Director, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Sausalito, California

• Program Director/Senior Physician Associate, Duke University Medical Center: Heart Disease Reversal Clinic & Rice Diet Program

• Program Director, St. Francis Hospital, Greenville, South Carolina

• Program Director/Senior Physician Associate/Cardiac Rehabilitation, Duke University’s Preventive Approach to Cardiology (DUPAC)