Duke University School of Medicine - Aesculapian Yearbook (Durham, NC)

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I 'Q Q 0 E 9 s ' ' One appreciates a request from the Yearbook Staff to make a few comments concerning the choice of academic medicine as a career. Upon reflection, a number of interwoven reasons leading to such a decision can be cited. Clearly of importance are proiles of physicians known early in life, together with that broad image collectively called the romance of medicine. Somewhat later., assessments of various career patterns are inevitably considered, and for those having an appreciation for biological science combined with an interest in the care ofthe sick, Medicine easily takes the first position. Fortunately, having once chosen academic medicine, it becomes a simpler task to assess the effect ofa teaching and investigative career. I ts strongest features are its countinuing stimulus and incentive, as well as the multiple pleasures which it brings. The ideal requirements and justification for such a career are debatable. The lield is a broad one and offers a number of appealing features which vary in their importance with dilferent individuals. Clearly, the care ofthe ill is a primary task which stands alone in both meaning and satisfaction. Albert Schweitzer captured this succinctly by saying, 'One thing I knowg the only ones among you who will really be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. It is fortunate that the importance of happiness in life is being recognized with greater appreciation by the present generation, and most have discovered that providing it others is the most certain way to obtain it for one's self Moreover, it is a vital and vigorous phenomenon, for as Disraeli observed, Action may not always bring happiness, but there cannot be happiness without action. The teaching of students is another counterpart of academic medicine. To those who enjoy this privilege, there is no substitute which can accomplish its stimulus or satisfaction. One of its unique features is the reward it provides in allowing one to learn more than is taught. Moreover, the best teaching of medicine is simple, a concept aptly described by the famous teacher and Nobel laureate., Dickinson W. Richards, who remarked, 'The primary requisites for clinical teaching are a sick man, a student, and a teacher, regardless of where they are located or what the surrounding aura of sentimental values. And the student can be taught, and not only what to learn but also how to learn it. Finally, the opportunity to make original contributions is of maximal significance and provides a special pleasure. My most respected teacher, the late Alfred Blalock, expressed his view in the following statement: 'No satisfaction is quite like that which accompanies productive investigation, particularly if it leads to the better treatment ofthe sick. I-Ie further noted that important medical discoveries are generally simple, and one is apt to wonder why they were not made earlier, commenting, I believe that discoveries are usually made by a dedicated person who is willing to Q and cultivate his power of observation rather than by the so-called genius. In the broad iield ofMedicine, the student is ofien perplexed in knowing where to begin and how to select the guidelines which are most helpful. Medicine is indebted to Sir William Osler for many contributions, and one ofhis strongest beliefs concerned the master work of the profession. His thoughts on this subject are both practical and profound. His deep understanding and conviction mrning this important criterion have much meaning and are of daily help. In closing, his own words are quoted as delivered in an address to the medical students at Yale. Osler said, It seems a bounden duty on such an occasion to be honest and frank, so I propose to tell you the secret oflife as l have seen the game played, and as I have tried to play it myself. . . This I propose to give you in the hope, yes, in the full assurance that some of you at least will lay hold upon it to your profit. Though a little one, the master-work, WORK, looms large in meaning. It is the open sesame to every portal, the great equalizer in the world, the true philosopher's stone, which transmules all the base metal of humanity into gold. The stupid man among you it will make bright, the bright man brilliant, and the brilliant student steady. With the magic word in your heart all things are possible, and without it all study is vanity and vexation. The miracles oflife are with it . . . To the youth it brings hope, to the middle-aged confidence, to the aged repose . . . It is directly responsible for all advances in medicine during the past twenty-five centuriesf' David C. Sabiston. .lr.. M.D

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