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

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u ecol lectin Having graduated from the Medical College of Virginia with the ancient Class of 1886, I claim relationship to Rip Van Winkle, and to whatever super-annuated title (if any) which he may have had! Ever since those ancient days I have always been proud of my Alma Mater, and especially so within the past few years, having witnessed her remarkable development, her progressive spirit, and her outstanding service and contributions to the advancement of the medical profession. I am very happy to know of the magnificent grants recently made and ear- marked for the Baruch Center, and for the further scientific development of Physical Medicine. In this branch of therapy I have been interested for many years, especially during World War I, when the various physical agents (most of them of ancient usage) became grouped under the heading Physical Therapy. Their physiological effects and therapeutic values were studied and widely used in the reconstruction hospitals of that day, and from the beneficial effects which were observed large numbers of medical men became interested in the results. The Government in 1917 issued a call for medical men who had had some experience in administering the newer forms of treatment by physical means distinct from the usual forms of medicine and surgery. There were very few who volunteered for such service. The term Physical Therapy was new, and hardly recognized by the medical profession. My application was forwarded to the Surgeon General ' s office and accepted. Appointed a Captain in the Medical Corps, I reported to the War Office in Chicago for assignment to duty to an old Medical Corps Major of many years ' service, who looked me over, and asked if I had a specialty. I answered in the affirmative. What is it? he asked. Physical Therapy, Sir. What in hell is that? was his explosive question. I tried to explain. Well, said he, I guess I ' ll send you to Fort Leavenworth. And to Fort Leavenworth I went! That Post was a kind of training ground for newly appointed medics, but there was no Physical Therapy within a thousand miles! After a few months there I was ordered to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington for instruction and duty. At that time this was the fountain head of Physical Therapy training and observation. There were only six or seven officers taking the course at the time, all being sent to reconstruction Precise control of fever therapy made possible by this modern cabinet which is a modification of the original Kettering Hypertherm

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simulate acute diseases which are usually treated in man with drug therapy or surgery, than those chronic conditions seen in many patients sent to the physical therapy department or spa because of failure or lack of promise of drug therapy or surgery. In practice, sharp division between basic and clinical research is impossible. Both have to work hand in hand. There are many problems which should be attacked simultaneously by a co-operating team of workers, each having some specialized training in one or more of the numerous experimental, theoretical, and clinical problems involved. The field for investi- gation in physical medicine is very wide — in fact a virgin one. The task of present-day research in physical medicine can be epitomized in a series of aphorisms based on those of Baruch for hydrotherapy: (1) To procure sound scientific proof of the biological actions brought about by physical agents. (2) To determine the exact relation between quality or quantity of the agents and the effects produced. (3) To offer plausible theoretical explanations for the effects observed and for their dependence on quantity and quality of the physical agents. (4) To provide methods to make the effective agents easily accessible in the needed and controlled quantity and quality. (5) To evaluate critically the therapeutic and diagnostic use of biologically effective physical agents. The positive negative pressure boot in the treatment of peripheral vascular dis ease

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hospitals when considered sufficiently proficient. It was extremely interesting. We worked all day and well into the night in the department and in the wards. Eventually I was assigned as Officer in charge of P. T. at General Hospital No. 3, Colonia, N. J., near Rahway. Here a splendid beginning had been made, consisting of a whole building for Physical Therapy, a very well-equipped gymnasium for corrective exercises, games, etc., a small swimming pool, a hydrotherapy department, well equipped with Baruch apparatus, rooms for electrical treatment, with adequate machines, rooms for radiant heat and light, ultra violet lamps, etc. There were about fifty Aides in the Department, and a dozen or so enlisted men who had had previous training as pre-medics, or physical directors. Hundreds of patients were treated daily, all cases referred from the surgical, medical, orthopedic, or neurological departments. In addition to the P. T. Department, there were separate rooms for occupational therapy, with unusually extensive equipment, including a green house in which patients worked with pleasure and profit. General view of one of the treatment rooms in the physical therapy department of La Garde General Hospital in New Orleans, La. Photo courtesy U. S. Army Signal Corps In this work there passed the most interesting year of my life. On my return to the University of Wis- consin, from which I had an indefinite leave of absence, the Dean of the Medical School, the late Dr. Charles Bardeen, immediately felt interested enough to establish the beginnings of a Physical Therapy Department in a building which was then the Children ' s Hospital. The Wisconsin General Hospital was in process of construction in 1920, and here was provided adequate quarters with fair equipment in Physical Therapy, with the writer in charge. I am proud to have had a hand in these developments for the next fifteen years. A series of P. T. lectures with credits were required for all junior medical students. In the senior year each student was required in the second semester to spend two hours each afternoon in the Department in observing the work and in giving what assistance they could in the treatment of the patients. In addition to instruction of the medical students, the Women ' s Department of Physical Education sent over those senior students who were interested in Physical Therapy as a profession. Besides a se- mester ' s course of lectures, the young women had practical experience in the Department, and a good many occupy important positions today in other colleges, clinics, and hospitals. Thus the years have passed; and according to the rules of the University of Wisconsin, if the poor Professor gets to be seventy years old (through no fault of his own) he is given his hat, told good-bye, and asked, What ' s your hurry? Mention must be made of the organizations of the postwar days, and their frequent well attended meetings. There had been for many years previous to the war an orga nization known as the American Electrotherapy Association, composed of medical men mostly of New England and other parts of the East, who were interested mainly in the administration of the electric currents (Galvanic and Static) in certain physical disorders. After the war the active American Physical Therapy Association was formed. The name was first changed to the American College of Physical Therapy, and later to the present name, Ameri- can Congress of Physical Therapy. Besides the parent association, the Midwest Society, the New England Society, the Pacific Coast Society, and others, were formed, as gradually the interest spread in the use of physical means for the treatment of disease. Over-enthusiasm prevailed in some quarters, notably in the use of ultra-violet forms of treatment. Text books were being written, good, bad, and indifferent. The quality of leadership in the new therapy greatly improved as the years went by. The Council of Physical Therapy, formed by the American Medical Association, has been a more recent potent factor in the development of scientific methods. Today, after retirement, as I sit on the sidelines and watch the crowds go by, I am thankful to see others carrying on so successfully, with such enthusiasm of spirit. I am especially happy to see our beloved Alma Mater blessed with means, personnel, and determination to bring Physical Medicine into the position of usefulness it so richly deserves! J. C ELSOM, ' 86 Emeritus Professor of Physical Therapy, University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin