New Jersey College of Medicine - Journal Yearbook (Jersey City, NJ)

Page 15 text:

IQ. . I .,- , . 1' d ,ff , . ni. The harbinger of spring arrived in the form of an administrative communique. The Class of 1969 was to have the honor of mandatorily sitting for Part III of the National Boards and thereby providing additional ma- terial for internship recommendations. Indeed, we were singularly honored. The examination was not mandatory in other medical colleges. Dr. Kahn showed us we had grossly misinterpreted, the entire letter and promptly cancelled the exam. just as promptly we professed our faith and agreed to take it. The class that had brought up the rear on Part I ranked fifteenth in the nation on Part III. Everyone who had been embarassed by our perform- ance on Part I now stood to take a bow for our perform- ance on Part III. With the successful resolution of the National Boards conflict inspiring us, we confronted the departments of medicine and surgery with the possibility of boycotting finals. Visions of Columbia danced in administrative heads. Dr. Leevy had dialogue with us and Dr. Lazaro demonstrated the virtue of patience. We showed our seriousness of purpose by taking finals in medicine, surgery and preventive medicine. Thus the year ended with more and more people talking less and less to fewer and fewer other people. Our whites were well-wrinkled, gray and tight in some very uncomfortable places. 'll

Page 14 text:

Like all Gaul, junior year was divided into three parts: East Orange, Newark and Elizabeth. In our oversized, overstarched, overwhite whites we dug out our well- wom Arrow street guide and set out to conquer. The feeling of less than overwhelming overconfidence due to the lack of departmental chairmen was more than offset by the efforts of the Rawson Theatre Group. Al- though productions of The job I Left Behind, Rally 'Round the Dean, Boys, and Research In the Attici' were well-received by the critics, attendance steadily declined. If there was one thing that could be said about all junior clerkships it was that no one thing could be said about all junior clerkships. Our roles varied from an integral one in-medicine to an unwanted one in psychia- try. Fostered by the Leevy surfacing maneuver, our curiosity about things medical extended into other areas. We pondered the value of writing orders and a plan, the value of night preceptors and the meaning of nolo contenderef' One thing we did not ponder was the role of The Chief sf, medical resident. A few floors away was the different world of surgery. After a week in the gas department and another in the cast department we came to appreciate Dr. Malfitan and Dr. Sadoflf Moving up- stairs, we found the domain of the Four Horsemen ill-prepared for the life academic. Everyone from the nurses to the janitors had a one-to-one relationship with the patients-everyone but us. But we were only students and to be ignored the patients had been in- formed. A few floors below, Dr. Margolis and Dr. Wilson taught neurology, and Dr. Deutsch single-handedly battled the combined forces of General Hershey to a draw. We watched and Dr. Cranich listened. In addition to a sound teaching service, pediatrics provided a glimpse of our surroundings for senior year. Despite that glimpse we were encouraged by the quantity and quality of the house staff Unfortunately, the house staff went the way of that eminent pediatric radiologist, C. Richard Weinberg, M.D. Obstetrics and gynecology provided the state with a tidy revenue in the form of gasoline tax, and us with pretty surroundings and a test of the rap- port between us and the private attendings. Some, on both sides, were unequal to the task.

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Senior year began as junior year had ended-in a furor over an administrative communique. It was a stirring tribute to our maturity and our efforts of the previous spring. In return for all of our academic holidays and a tidy sum we were to receive an occasional single holi- day, a mandatory health insurance plan and unlimited privileges at the student health office in jersey City, open five hours per week and featuring aspirin, nose drops and saline gargle. Once again we belied our intelligence and grossly misinterpreted, the message. This time we communicated via checkbook and the message got through. We thought. t 2 ' 1-iii? Communication at all levels reached its peak during the rank and recommendation battle. The majority and minority of the class communicated. Most knew the ranking system for what it was and therefore wanted an internship recommendation unrelated to it. Some few, having striven mightily for the gold star, still insisted on it. We voted and communicated the result to Dr. Kahn. The assistant dean communicated with the dean. Three weeks later Dr. Rawson asked us what system of recom- mendation we preferred. In the winter of our discontent we applied for intern- ships without a directory and sought electives without direction. Everyone eventually received a directory. But some people's directions for electives were diilerent -so were their electives. Thus we went our separate ways. just being divided into small groups prevented any real cohesiveness and there was no one concept worthy of class loyalty. We rotated through our clerk- ships, keeping sane with laughter.