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

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The Class 0f1964 College of Physicians and Surgeons

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THE IVORY TOWER Y DROME When some time ago I accepted the flattering invitation to write something for this Year Book, I promised myself that I would avoid rhetoric and slogans. and that I would try to discuss some topic pertaining to our daily life. This led me to the decision of writing about an interesting syndrome. This is a disease which is endemic in most important medical and teaching institutions. The disease. or syndrome. is not sex linked and is not limited to any age group. It is probably con- tagious. but the exact method of transmission is not known. We can call it the Ivory Tower Syn- drome. The patients who become affected by it may look perfectly normal except when they speak or write on topics pertaining to their field or speci- alty. A trained and keen observer will then detect the following symptoms: the patients become dog- matic and ignore, or at least disregard entirely. any opinion, point of view. research method or results. which originated in other institutions. They con- sider reliable and important only the results and conclusions reached by them or their group, Un careful interviewing, their rationalization goes somehow along these lines: a. This is one of the greatest medical and scientific centers: b, I belong to it lor it belongs to met: c. We have at- tained. or are near attaining, excellence in our field: d. Ergo, those who disagree with us must by neces- sity be wrong and misguided and we need not waste our time by paying attention to what they say. The By Raffaele Lattes Ivory Tower Syndrome is not a rare disease. With some experience. it can be diagnosed easily. It is apparent that while early detection can be of great help in combatting it by isolating the patients, adequate prevention is possible and more desirable. What was said above was not meant to imply that in the biological and medical sciences the opinions of a mediocre majority should prevail on those of one outstanding individual. What was meant is that' we must study and respect the opinions and results reported by others in our field, and try seriously to understand the reasons for the discrepancies that may exist between our point of view and theirs. For instance, one of the blandest manifestations of our syndrome is our frequent tendency to ignore the foreign literature. First rate basic and clinical research is done abroad as well as here. just as poor articles are published here as well as abroad. If we acquaint ourselves with what has been done and reported elsewhere, not only will we avoid reporting as new. observations already made and published by others, but we will without fail see our own field or specialty in a better perspective. In my opinion, the road to excellence is paved not only with hard work and superior intellectual ability. It also requires understanding and tolerance of other points of view. and thorough familiarity with work done by others. Without this, we run the risk to march down a path leading to narrow minded- ness and arrogance.

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. N Q 7555 .W Senior Class Officers joseph McCarthy. P815 Club President: Eugene Mayer. Class President: Richard Lipton, Treasurer: Will Andrews, Vice president Evelyn Grollman, Secretary -absent when picture taken. Five years ago many of us considered the year 1964- to be an almost unattainable goal while, in retrospect, the year 1959 seems like only yesterday. We have completed four years at P315 and most of us have enjoyed being members of the Class of 1964. Our formal association as a class- room body has now drawn to a close but the friendships that have been made within our group will last forever. With these friendships go many memories. Our tragic moments will be recalled with sorrow while our pleasant experiences will always summon up a smile. During the past flour years we have been together on many occasions. both academic and social. By and large we have func- tioned well together and this is to our credit. This is especially notable since the demands of medical school are often much greater than those of other graduate schools. For example, the long hours. the enormity of the subject material. the search for tuition, and the fact that some of the faculty do not consider medical students to be on a plane with other gaduate students -will all serve to weaken the spirits of any student. It is well that each class develops its own esprit de corps. As our formal training at P815 draws to a close we realize that we have gained muchlfrom this school which offers the best in American medicine. We have also gained much from our associa- tion as a class. May we always profit from these exposures. - Gene S. Mayer 8