Jefferson Medical College - Clinic Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 33 text:

And now, gentlemen, we have cleared away the underbrush, and can head for the tall timber. With such imaginative language our genial professor of pathology, Dr. Virgil H. Moon, would end one aspect of a subject, and introduce another. Pathology was a course first encountered in the last half of the sophomore year and completed in the first half of the junior year. Its importance was emphasized in Dr. Moon's first lecture by his quotation from Sir William Osler, As is our pathology, so is our prac- tice. Throughout the remainder of our work we were impressed by the truth of this significant state- ment. lf it might be said with equal truth, As is our pathology course, so is our practice, we would be physicians unexcelled. Dr. Moon conducted his department in a thoroughly capable and efficient way. He placed emphasis on coordinating all aspects of disease, clearly showing the relationship between the gross and microscopic, be- tween the living and the dead. How well we remem- ber, in this regard, his saying, Well, now, gentle- men, if the first half of the section will leave quietly, we shall have the opportunity of showing you an PATHULUGY autopsy. This introduced, in a quietly dramatic fashion, the manifestations of the ills to which human flesh is heir. Dr. Moon tor, as he is better known, the Chief J was ably assisted by Dr. loseph Stasney, Dr. Donald McGraw, and Dr. Thomas Scaricaciottoli. On the days when the Chief wasn't present, we would be ex- posed to the vituperative outbursts of Dangerous Dan McGrew, known sometimes as the Little Chief. His emphasis on describing a slide accurately and fully became only too familiar, as did his chant about areas of vascular infiltration with numerous poly- morphonuclear cells, plasma cells, and some erythro- cytes, or, as paraphrased by the distinguished Sena- tor from North Carolina, cellular infiltration with fibrosis and gunk. Dr. Stasney did much to enhance the prestige of the department. The suggestion, Would you be so kind, Mister --, as to ditzcuss the next slide, was his amiable introduction to late morning quiz sections. Dr. Scaricaciotclli, quiz master and lab adviser, did much to unravel some of the knots in the complexity of pathology. His quiet aid helped many of us. Most vividly, however, we remember the Chief's numerous disquisitions on Shock and Related Capil- lary Phenomena. However much he claimed to go down to the Delaware and do 'you know what,' we realize the great contribution his studies have made, and are glad to have had his clear presentation of them. And, above all else we gained from the course, Dr. Moon made us aware of the importance of the skep- tical, scientific approach to our practice. lOl-IN B. MCKEEVER.

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CHEMISTRY Physiological chemistry at lefterson is not something that lends itself readily to description. lndeed no! It must be experienced. Professor Bancroft was a precise, determined man who expected the utmost from his students. His lec- tures included not only the varied phases of biological chemistry, but encompassed the broader fields of knowledge in general. His esoteric allusions, cryptic even to lexicographers, to hake sounds, blue noses, Koumiss, and that exciting ascetic sect, the Skolpje, lacked nothing in variety. These were emphasized by the reiterated phrase, lt wouldn't be a bad idea if you got a hold on some ot these terms and made them a part cf you. During the laboratory periods, we first came to know Mr. Williams and Dr. Hansen. Of the two, Mr. Wil- liams, with his rasping, Take two sheets of paper, and his eagle-eyed watch on the back-row grape- vine, left his own inimitable impression on all ot us. The actual laboratory work itself left indelible memories in terms of concrete sense-impressions-burnt urine odor, the congestion at the special reagent tables, macerated calves' brains, glycogen-rich oyster extract left standing on the desk for a week, beer bottles full of urine, and the days of blood-taking and stomach- tube passing, highlighted by an hour-and-a-halt lecture from our professor, with the tube in situ. The examinations, held on the average of one every three weeks, constituted further rude jolts to our sensi- tive psyches. The good doctor let it be known that he would tolerate no carelessness or laxity on our part. Here we learned lessons in precision and exactness, which might have been worth the numerous below- fifty grades encountered with such regularity. His material rivalled the knowledge of O. Henry's notorious but invaluable Herkimer's Handbook of Indispensa- ble Information. tThe curious part ot it is that the National Board examiners wanted us to know the same strange intormationj In retrospect, after two years, most of us can recall Burn the tat in the tlanie of the carbohydrate, the amazing metabolism of the Dalmatian coach hound, and the vital importance of exactly one and not two drops of gum ghatti solution in the blood urea nitro- gen. Time has erased from memory minor idiosyn- crasies in the lecture room and laboratory, but our general recollections of the course include hurried copying from blackboards filled with prodigious amounts of calligraphy while concurrently jotting down lecture notesg late lunches on Wednesday and Fridayg brutal memorizing sessionsg and wrestling with three hours of lab work in an hour's time. All these vicissi- tudes have given the course its peculiar, individual- istic flavor. l OHN B. MCKEEVER.

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Pharmacology was a course into which we all ven- tured with more than just a bit of apprehension, for we had heard too much from the upperclassmen about those surprise exams, the uh- lectures, the millions of drugs and dosages, and even the old rumor of new instructors. Little did we realize that we would soon become so intimately acquainted with the faculty that many of us would even have the opportunity of sitting in their inner-sanctum soon after the first exam. PHARIVIACULUGY Dr. Gruber lost no time in introducing us to phar- macology per se. We soon learned what was expected of us, and we wondered how we could do it. We scouted around and discovered that compends were available, and it was a new and exciting experience for us to read one. We often wondered how drunk the student who wrote the compend could have been and whether or not he ever passed the course. Dr. Hart lectured on Mondays, and we often debated as to whether or not his lecture hour would be used for the next exam. Some insisted that this was impossi- ble, but Dr. Gruber settled the question one day-much to our dismay. Laboratory work was very interesting. No longer were we required to pith frog after frog. Instead we filled prescriptions, tested drugs, and finally analyzed unknowns. We learned to understand drugs, and mis- takes of dosage in sample prescriptions were forcefully pointed out to us by noting the comparative effect of the correct dosage on ourselves. We learned the dosage of strabismus, the Work of Ott, Scott, Hoskins, and Gunning, the difference between a comb and a spur and oh so many drugs, their pharmacology and U. S. P. dosages. Dr. Ellis was always around, more than just willing to lend a helping hand or dispense a little cheer at a table filled with gloom, following the departure of Miss Friedman carrying in her hand a tiny slip of paper bearing requests for personal interviews in the near future. And, then, there were quiz sections preceded by dosage tests. It was amazing how frequently Dr. Gruber, et al., would choose the drugs which we planned to study that night. So, that night it was con- sidered no longer worthwhile studying. As final exam time approached and we started sway- ing under the terrific tension, we realized that there was quite a bit of pharmacology in us which we were bound to retain for a long time, and we were anxious to get back home to our old hang-out at the corner drugstore and amaze our druggist friends with our knowledge. FELIX OLASH.