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

Page 24 text:

DEA Joseph R. DiPaIma, M.D. .4-f .A 'XX .Ziff '11 If 11.9. 11:5-E 7 L' ' . . r 1'-.J 4-rw 1 . Q. . 1 J ' A A Q -Tfif' ff :N 'lv ef . 1 if 'W if 6 5' - n Q

Page 23 text:

PRESIDENT Charles S. Cameron, M.D. To the Members of the Class of Seventy: For some years, in parting messages to the graduating classes, I have thought it important to emphasize two things. The first was the imperative to recognize the pace of change, particularly the rate at which new facts are being added to the store of knowledge, and the need to accommodate this expanding store through conti- nuing study. The second was the responsibility of the new generation of doctors to consider how they are uniqu- ely qualified to participate personally in bettering the human experience-in treating a sick community as well as a sick man. These things are no less important now than they were, but it does not seem to me in this year 1970 so necessary to restate them here, because the pace of change and the avalanche of discovery have become our daily experiences, and social disjunctions are now widely, although not universally, regarded as the fore- most challenge confronting every segment of leadership and special competence. On the occasion of your graduation, what does seem to me worthy of advice has to do with complacency- that comfortable attitude of mind which is satisfied with things as they are, which eschews involvement in, or even concern for problems not directly affecting its con- tentment and which is relatively unmindful of its capacity for savoring the wonders of its environment-an endow- ment given to a very small proportion of living things. Complacency is a sort of selfishness but I am not us- ing it in that context. I have in mind the kind of unaware- ness which cannot or does not sense tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones . An- other poet put it blithely The world is so full of a num- ber of things, l think we should all be as happy as Kings . Schweitzer called it a reverence of life. A partic- ularly moving account of deliverance from complacency was written by Hans Zinsser after he learned he had leukemia and realized his time was short. He said that from that moment of knowledge of his disease, it seemed as though all his heart felt and his senses perceived were taking on a deep autumnal tone and an increased vividness. He found that instead of being saddened, his sensitiveness to the simplest experi- ences, even for things that in other years he might hardly have noticed, was infinitely enhanced. Every- thing that went on about him or within him struck upon his heart and mind with a new and powerful resonance. Zinsser was an immensely gifted, perceptive and sen- sitive man, and l have many times thought that if so ex- traordinary an individual experiences fresh delight in merely living, only after he realized that it would soon be over, how much more constrained are most of us, less endowed with perceptive faculties, to strive for this en- riching experience consciously, purposefully. My earnest wish for you is that you will be able to shun the thrall of complacency. To have the knowledge and the skill to prevent illness, to make sick people well, and to ease the suffering of those you cannot are precious privileges, but even they do not determine the quality of one's life nor do they assure joie de vive. To each of you I offer my warm congratulations for having elected the highest of callings, for having sub- mitted gracefully to the discipline of these four years of preparation and for having finished with style. My wish for each of you is a long and noncomplacent life, rich in the satisfaction of service and of awareness. Sincerely Yours, dmusi.

Page 25 text:

Education is a life long process . . . Plato Dear Doctor: You are being spawned into the profession of medicine at a time when clear directions are lacking and confusion rules. The era of concen- tration on basic research which has been so pro- ductive seems to be in the process of decelera- tion. Ultra specialization and focus on hospital practice is increasing. The number and quality of private and family practice is decreasing. All are agreed that there is no logical and practical means of distributing and delivering health care to the community. Many feel that the nation is on the verge of a National Health Plan. There is one certainty. Never was the acute short- age of physicians more clearly felt. In this statistic lies your greatest opportunity and challenge. Obvi- ously, in this seller's market you will have more se- lection and a better chance to attain an important position. Will you fall victim to the unparalleled bo- nanza of all types of residency training at almost reasonable stipends? Will you divert your medical training towards industrial and administrative sine- cures? Or, resisting these temptations, will you de- vote your youthful energies to the direct care of patients in family and community practice? My crystal ball offers no clear image. A cummu- lated experience gives confidence of but one truism. You will be more successful and produc- tive than your preceptors and teachers. Indeed. if you were not, we would be disappointed. You will fulfill those potentials with which you are endowed more completely than your predecessors. Cer- tainly, some of you may become moon doctors and some of you will specialize on the pineal gland but most of you will simply practice medi- cine and bring comfort and relief to the sick and the injured. Whatever and wherever your paths may lie, our blessings and sincere good wishes are with you. Sincerely yours. H We 21