Drexel University College of Medicine - Medic Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 11 text:

5 Wilbur W. Oaks, A.B.. M.D. Associate Professor. Medicine Martin Baren, A.B., M.D. Assistant Professor, Pediatrics X 1 ,Z 3 Herman S. Belmont. A-XB.. M.D. Professor. Psychiatry Head. Section ol' Child Psychiatry W. Budd Wentz. ABN Nick.. Nil? Research Assistant Prott-swf. Olwstetrics .intl Gvnccoloux . d. QQ

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ig 1.:f ?X'3'., -.L-,,y. ox xx... .- . Henry L. Perlmutter. AB.. MA., Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor. Radiology Jerome Karasie. BS.. M.D. Senior Instructor. Psychiatry

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CHARLES S. CAMERGN, M.D. President I salute you as physicians with sincere admiration and pride, and I wel- come you to the company of alumni of which you are youngest and yet proba ly the best prepared of any who have Cpreceeded you. Part of this distinction derives from recent strides of me ical discovery and part of it is dividend of the quality of medical education which has been achieved here. I ex ect that you recognize that your educative experi- ence has been of a iiigh order, and I ho e, therefore. that you will hold Hahnemann in grateful and loyal regard, always. Not long ago. the President of Great Britain's General Medical Council. Lord Cohen. stated. quite seriously, that robots will soon diagnose and treat patients, that electrodes would be applied to determine their condi- tion, that a needle in a vein oi one arm would collect blood lor automa- tic analysis, and that all these data will be fed into a computer, analysed. the most likely diagnosis established, and the appropriate treatment automatically administered through a second need e in the other arm.' However, the opportunity for human intervention was not entirely ab- sent from this scheme of medical practice, for the prophet added, The effects will be monitored and the treatment will be adjusted. if neces- sary, Apparently it is doctors who will do the monitoring and the adjusting. I want to suggest to you. as you enter upon your careers as healers, that while Lord Cohen's prediction may seem somewhat overdrawn, the small beginnings of robot medicine are already evident. The increasing- ly technologic character of the practise of medicine seems to be ecli s- ing in some degree personal va ues. I regard this as an understandable and Cperhaps natural sequence, but it is nevertheless regrettable and it is avoi able. One need only to acknowledge the deep, underlying, ever present, and immensely important part which the human spirit has in any illness. Call it mind. psyche, ego or what you will, it seeks solace and encouragement and warming concern: and it seeks these things of the one in w om hope and confidence are placed - the physician. The needs of the spirit, usually mute, are very real components of illness, and thgf will not be met by improved machinery nor even by better drugs. nly another spirit can reach them. So, at the outset of what is certain to be a tremendously exciting rofes- sional life, I ask you to resolve to make full use of every new advance, but not at the expense of your personal commitment to the importance ot' human values in treating sick people. If you succeed in conjoining the science of medicine with the heart of the physician, you will be a complete doctor. I extend to each of you my sincere wish for many years of full life and of deep satisfactions which go with every high calling.