Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - P and S Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 75 text:

--:sag . . Sv '..3 its-as 1: l1I-ni nl K in-um v Y 2... . , ,- nlxuil lic Ciahl 11: uf, .,., ' I ll 'ii i ' A-iniiagiiilii lf- 'T' 4, lk ' i L .. X A Ti-, i l ,J 1 I vf' I I N Top Bridge game ai noon, Five rninuves for a snack. Middle Les Cramer in the locker room. Theres always roam io: one more. Fred Duhl makes contact. Boffom A quick snack afler anavomy. Taking of? for the week-end. 71 ,Qgxi X

Page 74 text:

CLASS OF l953 ELL, the day was here. lt was Monday, September l2th, the day they'd all been waiting for, while plugging those long four years at organic and Zoology. The l2O chosen from some 2,800 applicants were strolling about their new milieu, peaking into the besmoked students' room, and doing some heavy buying at the bookstores. They decided between Gray, Morris and Cunningham, listening intently and often unwisely to upperclassman advice. Indeed, they were all feeling overly proud about their past accomplishments and all ready to dig in for new conquests. For this was the real stuFf now, no more get- ting it second-hand-in Arrowsmith, An Ameri- can Doctor's Odyssey, or The Horse and Buggy Doctor. Now would come the sophisticated trans- formation, the mastery of a new language, the understanding of new concepts, the acquisition of a huge bulk of vital information. Old mis- conceptions would be thrust away. All presumably came with some philosophic animus, influenced by the typical American lib- eral arts education, and tempered by the pull- ing power of the scientific method. Brought with them, therefore, was the desire to understand the basic principles of human organization and function. How does good old Homo Sapiens transform its energy lnutritioni bringing about its activities and responses to stimuli? How does the noblest of primates integrate these activities and responses? What, for example, is behind the often absurb behavior of humankind? They'd learn it all, like the famous song of Detweiler and Shapiro implied. And they'd learn much of the basic stuff in their first year-em- bryology, anatomy, microanatomy, psychiatry, biochemistry and physiology. But woe and begone, the work began to come. What philosophic analysis could be left in tired students memorizing a welter of facts. Their first week seemed like a term at college. They really welcomed the First Year Reception, sponsored by the P and S Club, that first Friday night. They were pleased to hear again how carefully they were chosen. Dean Serevinghaus spoke and pro- vided some interesting statistics. The l29 stu- dents of the Class of i953 received their under- graduate education in 47 colleges and came from 27 states. About one-third were Gotham- ites. Sixty-five of the lO8 males were vets. The average age of civilian students was 20, of vets, 25. There were three foreign students in the class. Backgrounds of the students were interest- ing and diverse. Some had been physics and philosophy maiors. They had been campus illumi- naries, athletic stars, magazine editors and class presidents. Having learned some more about themselves they went back to their iobs, and, excepting a Saturday night out, stayed with it-at least until after the first exam, They did take out enough time to elect their class officers. Quietly, the three best represented colleges put their candidates forward and Old Eli came out best. Pierce Smith and George Cahill were elected president and vice-president, respectively. How 'lil .lulie Schoepf of Vassar became secretary-treasurer is a problem for Mr. Kaltenborn. They were forced to take time out for physi- cal exams, and for X-rays that, for technical reasons, had to be repeated. Some gave their life for science contributing their thyroids to the radio-active iodine experiments of Dr. Sidney Werner. Some gave their lives and blood to science and SiO. They all met Albert after Professor Elftman very graciously introduced them to the 30 stiffer members of the class. The Organizer became a pass word. Chuck or Spinal Noback, as he was vari- ously called, to his face and behind his back, became a favorite, the only complaint being that he might be charming as hell but he dis- couraged rote memorizotion. They became enamored to correlative clinics, especially after Dr. Kneeland's dramatic presentation of a co- arctation of the aorta. All, save Princeton men, became equally enthralled with Dr. Cahill, who covered, among other things, the topic of how Princeton men became birds. ln the correlative lectures they even were able to forget the un- pleasant seating built for dwarfs, and the poor ventilation which hardly bespoke for the health- consciousness of the P and S faculty. Some, at least, found the going unpleasant and rough. For what's intellectual about degluti- tion and micturition that swallowing and urina- tion won't take care of? Some of the doctors- to-be feared being institutionalized. They won-

Page 76 text:

dered about the white coat hierarchy. They were learning to judge to which class a student belonged. If he had a stethoscope he was a second year man, if tongue depressors jutted out of his pockets he was already doing rounds. Everyone was looking for the day he would reach that blue ground, especially by the time the first exams came in mid-October. By then they had scouted the restaurants in the area, were familiar with the Cloaca, had gotten their meal jobs at Bard. They had learned the proper nemonics, like the ones for the motor branches of the facial nerve, the branches of the external carotid and twelve cranial nerves, and no one would ever forget Tilly or the carpal bones. Some were buying every chart, textbook, and cram manual available. Of course, there was the bridge group that always emerges, and a few poker fiends ap- peared, paying for their lunches out of winnings from neophytes who couldn't get convinced that inside straights don't pay off. Of course, there was the extensive Kaffee-Klatsch, which de- parted daily at lO:lO A. M. from Dr. Smith's famed laboratory after carefully setting up their scopes to carry on in absentia. As the exams approached a new word be- came current-spasticity. For the collective mus- cles of '53 P 81 S becamue taut, their tongues were especially rigid. Any noise brought an ex- aggerated reflex. The air was alive with newly acquired medical jargon, alive with the chatter of those who told more than they knew, and of those feigners who complained of knowing nothing. Conversation became fantastic. The Junior Medicos described people medically lor like the FBIJ. Persons had apoplectic faces, brown liver spots on their right cheek, or a cleft chin. Some stalwarts were influenced by Cheaper by the Dozen and made efficiency time and motion studies, developing special techniques for taking notes. Out came medical jargon, disturb- ing dates and families. Medical school jokes were the order of the day, including terms not always sanctioned by the Basle Anatomical Con- vention. After the first exam things cooled off, atti- tudes changed, students began to realize that P 8. S wasn't here to flunk them out and keep them under pressure. They could learn as suited their personalities. By the end of the second anatomy exam in early December, students were in good spirits. They put on a terrific freshman party under the jurisdiction of Jerry Dickinson. Fred Duhl of Co- lumbia College Varsity Show fame and Jim Neely of Princeton's Triangle Club worked up a new show. Fred wrote a catchy show number lt's All in Fun and Jim wrote and delivered I Am the Life of the Laboratory using his facial muscles of expression to mimic the faculty. Lucky Jim also did a soft shoe number with Kansas Lucy. One major attraction of the show was Dick Shapiro and Oscar Detweiler's Ova and Ova Again. As if it were part of the education, at least two of the boys found themselves in the operat- ing room. Both Pete Rittner and Grove Potter re- ceived appendectomies. Honors and fortune also came to three of the students, Philip Aisen and Fred Duhl, both of Columbia College, and Jay Meltzer of Princeton won New York State medical scholarships. Bob Eddy survived the birth of a baby son, Jonathan, in the fall. George Cahill was married in December, and pretty little Ana Cordero of Puerto Rico was married the evening of the last anatomy exam-not squeamish! By welcome holiday time the class had strug- gled through a plethora of exams, met the fabu- lous Lord Byron in neuroanatomy and prepared for the vacation by a few pre-pre-pre Christmas parties. With Christmas went everything intellec- tual. Social life breathed strong. ' Upon return from the holiday wassail the re- vived group settled down again to prepare for the neuro and gross finals. But they did find time to plan a skating party at Rockefeller Cen- ter which never did come off, because of the weatherman. Later, the class will have an eve- ning roller-skating party at the Stork, says Neely. And while the topic is turned to the class comedian, mention must be made of his and Freddie Duhl's fine efforts at the second Fresh- man party. Their performances were rudely in- terrupted, though. First of all some old Columbia fellow named Bob Milch had a battle over some girl, and then Bob Bielman attracted Mo Malthan down a ladder. As the first half of their medical school career drew to a close P85 frosh were seen as half- oriented, half-sophisticated medicos hoping the results of their exams were commensurate with their happy feelings about a great school.