Loma Linda University - Priorities Yearbook (Loma Linda, CA)

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Raymond A. Mortensen, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry 22 A lasses under Dr. Raymond A. Mortensen, head of the Department of Biochemistry, are among the unforgettable experiences of the medical student at CME. Long after he has 'Forgotten many of the facts of Biochemistry, the student recalls with appre- ciation the well-planned character of Dr. Mortensen's lecture, the simplicity and clarity of his explanations of complicated physiochemical reactions, and the sys- tematic arrangement of even the minutest details of the laboratory procedures under his direction. All this, coupled with the inspiration that comes from his con- secrated life, has won for Dr. Mortensen a place in the hearts of all whom he has instructed. M. I. Frederiksen, a landmark to alumni, has assisted in the laboratory for twenty-five years

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been stained to reveal minute detail. He learns to recognize tissues from all organs of the body by their microscopic appearances. The department has a li- brary of more than 75,000 microscopic slides, enough to keep even upper-third men humble. Here are first met the famous pictures by Dr. Joseph Mossberger, '39, by which the student will ever after iudge all histological drawings. Many drawings in the new histology syllabus were prepared by sophomore stu- dent Fred Fisher. EMB RYOLOGY Embryology is the study ofthe anatomy and the physiology of the embryo. A knowledge of the origins of various organs and tissues helps us to un- derstand their function and the results when they are attacked by disease. Using the classic text by Arey, a department syl- labus, lectures, and laboratory study of embryos in early stages of development, the student follows the egg through fertilization, division into two cells, four cells, blastula, and morula, and until it is a small, perfectly formed fetus, needing only growth to make it ready for life. He seeks without success to know the ultimate how and why of development. He runs into frontiers of knowledge, where what is known, what is theory, and what is philosophy meet on a common ground of ignorance. A feature of the department is the collection of exquisite wax models from Germany, acquired al- most by luck many years ago and no longer avail- able. NEUROANATOMY This' student remembers neuroanatomy as the toughest course in medical school. Subsequent study in clinical neurology has made this impression rock- hard. He remembers very well how faithfully he re- viewed for final exams-three hours a day for fifteen days-and how hopeless he was on the final morning. There is no easy way to knowing how the brain and subsidiary nervous centers direct each small phase of body function. Models of nerve tracts prepared by students in former years, a good syllabus, and draw- ings do their best, and the student does his best and somehow manages to get through. A few of the more courageous may decide to tackle neurology as a specialty later, or if tolerant and on the philosophical side may practice psychiatry. Most of us, though, will be glad to refer our neuropsychiatric problems, being content to recognize one when we see it. The vt . 1 fnxww, f. M -fix rx . 1 mms mans -1- it Messages awww gigieitplaineds sly. ts s...nw,-.ts .1 mfwszusg g -,mst -Assytz - n T:-was ssfnsan -: ,X KM- -:-it t-- :---:-.tx :Q -mx-ess as-wwe G .A ss X: 3-1,t M fx: 1. :sms raft. neges was 'sf ii-.'i..., I ,-. t's columnar epithelium but what IS the umpulla at Venter? Guy M. Hunt, M D , promises to simplify the oltadtbry p roiection systems to some skeptical freshmen

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In Biochemistry the prospective doctor gains con- cepts of the chemical reactions which underly the physiological processes ofthe human body. He is thus enabled to appreciate the relationships which exist between normal functions and disturbances which cause pathology, and to more fully comprehend pro- cedures used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Here he is given the first opportunity to check his own body functions. He proudly analyzes specimens of his own blood and urine, he tests the efficiency of his liver and diagnoses the condition of his kidneys. Here the first taste of being a real doctor is realized. Freshmen in the lecture amphitheutre Dr. Mortensen suggests a better way of solving u 'problem