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

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GEORGE A. PERERA YT .A Dean of Admissions 1 ,X f 'K Director of Placement Professor of Medicine . 20 Dean of Students 1 Q-vtrgpggyyg. ---ww-:lx-,-..

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BROWN ON TEACHING: There is nothing a physician in a medi- cal center ought to enjoy more than teaching . . . The priorities here should be teaching. then medical care. then research . , . The greatest product we have is 125 students each year . . . Every class has been good in my 26 years here . . . Money spent on any education is worth- while. BROWN ON STUDENTS: fregarding the student petition asking the administration to allow him to stay beyond retirementj With stu- dents behind you. you have the most powerful influence behind you in the medical center . . . I don't agree with some of the ways they do things, but I'm in favor of student initiated change. BROWN ON PEOPLE: I feel very strongly about respect . . . I always try to give others credit - the only important thing is getting the work done . . . The most important contribution we can make is to treat people as human beings. BROWN ON CHANGE: If you're right. youlre going to win out in the end . . . I've been working with Orientals for over 13 years: they're in no hurry and I've learned to go at the pace that people are comfortable at . . . If our administration was fundamentally interested in teaching, changes would have been made long ago. f BROWN ON HIMSELF: If everyone in this class tinds their niche as I ' have. they will be happy . . . I always felt I ot 'ht to be paying Columbia for letting me work here. As I sat listening I found it hard to separate my agreement with the aphorisms from my en- joyment ofthe man. His vehicle - the story: I'd heard most of them before. maybe a couple of times, but I found myself enthralled again. His knack like any good storyteller was not in the story, but in the telling. The reorganization of the Taiwan Medical School and the initial or- ganization ofthe Puerto Rico Medical School were told as Sagas with bits of practical advice intermixed. And always there was the wry, tongue-in-cheek humor: I see nothing wrong with a pass-fail system. If the students want it. fine. My comments will read: This student passed. he is an A student. Or, this student passed, he is a C student . . . Parasitology never has been very important around here. And it makes sense that a disease like hook- worm which affects only 700,000,000 people with a blood loss of 7.000.000 quarts daily would be considered lightly. This year is the last as chairman of the Para- 19 sitology Department, but his mind is still active in planning. His plan for P8rS is twofold: lj To set up a Department of Interna- tional Medicine with a major interest in the study of nutrition and population and a major goal of serving as a train- ing center and exchange depot for U.S. and foreign M.D.s interested in the two problems. His attitude for this Medical School: Let's take on the world. 23 To reorganize the delivery of medical care in this area with storefront clinics and self-insurance pre-payment pro- grams for employees and neighborhood residents. Come back again. Dave. soon, We'll talk some more. My door is always open. I was leaving smiling and enriched once again. And very glad our dedication is to Dr. Brown . . . because his dedication is to us. S. David Lang

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P8zS. by any yardstick. is one of the world's leading schools of medicine. Although it ranks among the highest on such scales as size and scope. facilities. researc productivity and its support. the endowment of students. and the repute of faculty. its tradition of excel ence does not stem from bricks. mortar. decimal points or dollar signs. Rather. the secret of success of Columbia College of hysicians and Surgeons comes from emphasis on Who instead of What. its special emphasis wit regard to the personal qualities and attitudes of its learners and teachers in addition to their scholarly characteristics and their pursuit of knowledge and of truth. The future of P815 is another matter. Throughout the nation. fingers are being pointed and voices are being raised. directed especially at medical schools and their related hospitals. There are widespread concerns about iigustice and inequality. new challenges of professional authority. vociterous emands to provide the public with health care and access to it. and a clamor for more attention to be devoted to the prevention of disease. the maintenance of individual health. and to the obliteration of the poisons and evils which threaten the health of groups and of society. In the opinion of many. crisis is at hand already. a crisis in which you and we and P815 will be involved for some period to come. Matters will et worse before they get better. Manpower and means are stretched to the limit. the demands will imgose even more load. and no single solution will solve the problems. nce again the answer. if we are to move ahead. must come from the qualities and attitudes of people. of physicians. of you and of us. To plan imaginatively. to develop more professional and allied health personnel. to experiment in new forms of delivery of health services, and to participate as fully as possible while not overdiluting our primary objectives. these call for the same attributes which we have sought for this school and which have made it what it is. Only through your integrity and sense of responsibility. only through your continued recognition of the need to work together, and only through your awareness that service and learning and the acquisition of new knowledge are intertwined rather than separate can we come through on top. Loyalty. trust. and team play are not meaningless words. Mixed with concern, artistry. imagination, and a smile, they are essential for survival. Even after your graduation as full-fledged physicians. know that our interest and affection will continue. But know also that we will need your support and that we hope you will need ours as mutual advocates of the role of P8cS to medicine and o medicine to the nation's health. GEORGE A. PHRERA, NLD. Associate Deairi 21