Medical College of Virginia - X Ray Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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Mr. Baruch designated hydrotherapy, spa therapy, and climatology as the areas for special emphasis by the Medical College of Virginia. Three of America ' s foremost Spas have volunteered to co-operate with the Baruch Center in the furtherance of its studies along these lines. In this connection, the exceptional facilities of the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and its valuable archives have already been inspected in preparation for the institution of a clinical research program. II. EDUCATION The expansion and improvement of educational opportunities for those specially interested in physical medicine is the second of the Medical College of Virginia ' s obliga- tions. These objectives are inseparable from the development of a vigorous investigative program, for teaching without research is sterile. The two should complement each other to the benefit of both and the advantage of the field as a whole. Two student groups must be served, the medical and the technical. The Medical College of Virginia anticipates the early establishment of Fellowships in Physical Medicine for graduates desiring specialization in this or related branches of medical practice. It will include refresher courses for those who saw physical medicine Christening the therapeutic pool of the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital of Hot Springs, Arkansas. The portals of the Hospital are open wide for the reception of those who are in need of the healing waters of the Hot Springs, and who are without means to obtain the necessary medical treatment

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Reception room of the Baruch Center of Physical Medicine in which hangs a fine reproduction of a portrait of Dr. Simon Baruch and a bronze memorial plaque given to the Medical College of Virginia by Dr. Moses Benmosche, a distinguished alumnus HE Report of the Baruch Committee on Physical Medicine, submitted in April, 1944, led Mr. Baruch to offer substantial financial support to selected centers for the work proposed. At the Medical College of Virginia, one of these centers, we of the newly organized Baruch Center of Physical Medicine are in agreement that the best way to show our appreciation is to obtain the largest possible return from the funds expended. We thank Mr. Baruch most sincerely, and set forth the following tentative program: I. RESEARCH The empiricism of physical medicine has been its major limitation, delaying acceptance and hindering development in line with the forward march of biological and medical science. The Medical College of Virginia has therefore accepted the establishment of basic and clinical research laboratories as its first obligation. Toward this end it has appointed a team of three workers, composed of a physiologist, a physicist, and a clinician, who will set up an integrated investigative program. The objectives of this group embrace not only the addition to human knowledge through the fundamental study of physical agents and how they affect living tissues, but the application of things learned to the alleviation of the suffering of the maimed and the sick. The laboratories are now housed in the north wing of the fifth floor of the Clinic Building. The basic research laboratory has been func- tioning since early summer. The physics laboratory and shop are now being equipped. The full co-ordinated research program must await the parallel development of the Hospital Division ' s clinical program.

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Underwater exercise in the pool at the Medical College of Vir- ginia Hospital as a part of the convalescent program for patients with infantile paralysis Electrodesiccation being per- formed with the Oudin current from a teaching model of the spark gap diathermy machine donated to the Medical College of Vir- ginia by Dr. James C. Elsom, ' 86 function in military installations and would like to equip themselves to better apply it in civilian practice. To enhance general appreciation of the place of physical forms of treatment in the manage- ment of the patient as a whole, a new approach to undergraduate teaching is to be made. This will commence with a fundamental study of the physics and physiological effects of the therapeutic agents used in physical medicine, and then progress to observation of their clinical application on a high scientific plane. Since a technical assistant commonly serves as the agent of the physician in the actual administra- tion of physical forms of treatment, serious attention has already been given the organization of a sound and well rounded Physical Therapy Tech- nician Training Program. This will go into effect with the beginning of the next school year. For those eligible for graduate study, the Medical College of Virginia will offer a second degree. Army technicians whose training and experience have been limited to military physical therapy will be accommodated in Vocational Rehabilitation Courses, which may be pursued under the G. I. Bill of Rights, their object being to expedite the assumption of civilian duties in hospitals requiring professional registration. III. SERVICE TO THE SICK The Medical College of Virginia believes that from the practical point of view nothing is more