Long Island College Hospital - Lichonian Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 41 text:

wa 2. 4 o ,: -4. ,Tim 3m'i'Tr'2 .T m 1' To fjijo e 51392 N i if 5 l l l i i i a i . l lr ? lit i i i f if il fl ll. ll ill ffl l 'N E T H l l ii l , i l W N l l T i lil lar if i l ' r :QW 9911 :SWF LV . jr4illf' A Nz ., . .. 'tiff , if Q.. :.. ,f ,lf l it W Hi., r 14 , ff LiCi'i0NlAN ii lima V V7 :raw eirigiti tgg' iffy ,Q it Fifi! F i . - i ' I Lf! 9 5 . if Y , is 33--5152311312 - -si, . E333 1? Q-,525 work, or indecision as to what they should take up, is unjustified. They have only to remember that if they feel that there is a special branch to which they would like to devote their lives, then they have started on the road to success, for the successful worker of today, is one who singles out from a vast number of possibilities some special field and devotes his life to that. And in saying devotes one means literally dedica- tion. The senior seldom realizes that he may choose any specialty that he may wish and be sure of success in it if he will work with sincere interest and purpose and enthusiasm and consecrate his life to the end that he shall be successful in his under- taking. At first the road may be difficult and rough, obstacles may be thrown in his way, but obstacles only tend to develop character and may prove incentives to greater success. Such principles are always rewarded, and as time flies by the recent senior soon finds that he is a successful man and a man of power in his community and his profession. Buckston has well said the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible determination, a purpose once fixed, then death or victory. So the senior does not need to speculate as to the field in which he will most surely succeed. All he must do is to choose the work that he loves best to do. And need we point out that there is no more interesting specialty than that of internal medicine? True, it is far-reaching and difficult and needs years of hard work to master. However, internal medicine has the qualities of a sporting game. Every ease is a problem. and unlike mechanical problems each must be studied and solved by individual and varying methods. This variation in one's work means keener interest. It keeps one constantly alert for the very reason that there is no set routine. ln addition to this clinical phase of internal medicine opportunities present themselves in an ever widening range springing from the multiplying ramifications of the spe- cialty. Thus there are open the paths of industrial medicine, of public health work, of contagious diseases, of epidemiological survey, and of that new and all-important subject of the future-preventive medicine. Then again. one has laboratory study, either in the way of research or in clinical or experimental work bearing directly on medical problems which bring one into contact with the more basic branches of medicine, such as physiological chemistry, organic colloidal chemistry. physiology. pathology. and so on. Thus it will be seen that internal medicine offers many possibilities of specializa- tion within itself, and this very breadth and scope makes it a most appealing specialty even though it be the hardest of all to conquer. To the senior planning his career a word of reminder is in order. All medicine is one-it is the study, understanding and care of the sick. Specialization has tended to reduce the individual to a collection of partsg but we must not forget that the eve is a part of a person. that the ear is only one part of a wholeg and those specialists who become successful in more limited fields of medicine are those who recognize the dependence of their specialties upon general medicine. That is, the ophthalmoloilist must be first of all a medical man who has acquired special skill and technic in caring for diseases of the eye. The obstetrician is a medical man who recognizes that there are associated bodily changes in pregnant women that need careful surveying through- out pregnancy, so that he must not simplv watch the pelvis. The surgeon is the medical man who operates. Thus we reach the conclusion that, even when not an end in itself, internal medicine is the essential foundation of all other specialties. , LUTHER F. WARREN. Page tlmlx vi 1,

Page 40 text:

-we-rr. ,, ,., ,, .1 , , i Y,vw JV- ------if-- --V -: 7--2 X. K r a .Q-5' 2-'ce l .r...- .A,,.. .. .,, ,.,.. ..-- . ,.,. ,,, ..,,. 1-i.A,,.,t .. A , W, -V H ' n...sIA..,qL. l xiii - A NOTHER milestone has been passed. The juniors of ,ZZ are the seniors of '23. Their work has changed from that of definite assignment to that of individual study and individual development. They have been prepared lil by the work of three years of their medical course for the crowning year '-3 ef-if of clinical medicine-the senior year. They must now investigate problems on their own initiative. In fact the senior year marks the time when the student is hrst brought face to face with human beings. The patient is now the problem and the patient is the great teacher. To attack this new problem by the methods they have been taught and to formulate their own opinions concerning the cases assigned to them takes courage, but courage is the key to success. Fortunate it is if the student recognizes this early in his work for courage and work are the mainspring of enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is the driving force of character. It makes men strong and rouses unexpected resources and ability. Hence it is interesting to note how often the senior year marks the personal development of certain individualsg some of the men who have been rather mediocre students before that time now see the results of their efforts in dealing frankly with human beings and this calls out the enthusiasm for their work which acts as a whip to make them work harder than ever and take renewed courage for that work. Holding the inspiring ideals of courage and enthusiasm in mind as the keynote for the development of the senior in this new field of work, the Department of Rlledicine makes the. senior its assistant in the department. The medical cases are assigned to him in rotation. lVIuch of the studv work of the cases he must carry out by himself. He has, however, the advantage of being able to call upon the other departments for the special examinations that may help him to unravel puzzling and seemingly mysterious problems. His work is now planned to force him into action' and to make him responsible for that action. .At the same time he is developing courage and confidence he is made to stand on his own feet in interpreting the cases he is given to study. And further than this. he is acquiring other attributes which are not fundamentally medical but which will have much to do with his future career. He is associating nersonally with specialists who are always enthusiastic in their chosen fields, and certainly some of this enthusiasm he cannot help absorbing. The senior is often thrown into a state of mental panic when he comes to choose what field of medicine he is to select as his life work. As a matter of fact most seniors feel that they have enough to do to get through their work for the year and have no leisure to give to plans for the future. Others say that they do not know what field they are best qualified to follow. But this delay in planning their future f 1 1 ll1.i1'fy-five

Page 42 text:

PROFESSOR WARREN and his Section in Jlledicine