After treating U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Tucson trauma surgeon Randall Friese said his most important actions were holding her hand, speaking to her, and reassuring her that she was in the hospital and would be cared for. Inspired, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation named Feb. 14 a National Day of Solidarity for Compassionate Patient Care. At the Alpert Medical School, more than a dozen students in the Gold Humanism Honor Society plan to mark the day by reading from Stanford physician Abraham Verghese’s book, Cutting for Stone. Among the key tracts, says chapter adviser Fred Schiffman, is one in which a senior surgeon asks a trainee, “In an emergency, what therapy is administered by ear?” He answers correctly, “Words of comfort.”