New York Medical College - Fleuroscope Yearbook (Valhalla, NY)

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Fifty-six THE LAST PORTRAIT :I-N THE SECOND CENTURY, Galen taught that man was governed by four humours-blood, phlegm, .1 yellow bile, and black bile. The temperament of our earth has been divided into four periods-Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. And so it occurs to the writer that the attainment of a medical career which is also divided into four periods, may be likened to the four humors or seasons. R QQ ' Nl -. :F N tit LN! x Who can gainsay the thought that our Freshman 'Win ' year did not have the icy darkness of a long winter night? Fraught with fear of the unknown, attended constantly by the vision of a scythe above as ready with one full swoop to sever us from our newly- found ties, we entered medical school four years ago. The Boss's observation that many of us were really fitted to drive taxis, supported by grades of 60 and 65 in the first few quizzes did not lighten our mood any. But soon the burning desire to know the human body grossly and microscopically dissipated our gloom somewhat and as one body we surged forward, radiant in the knowl- edge that we had really started our life-work. Fortified by this realization we began to take the quizzes and the Boss in stride, learning before long that under his hardened exterior he was the neophyte's best friend. Of course, Doctors Stark and Allen did not add to our peace of mind, for many was the ear that burned from Mary's scorching criticism of a puerile histological or embryological drawing. Chemistry became a live, interesting subject, especially in view of Dr. Kleiner's attitude for making it so clear and concise. But the inevitable had to happen, and our joy in obtaining passing grades was somewhat dimmed by the loss of those we had learned to like. The arrogance or insolence of a Sophomore is only paralled by a moth's disdain of a death-dealing flame. Serene in the thought that we were capable and could master our chosen work, we could smile at the world, free of the fear of a year before. Our medical training was now in its budding stage, the Spring of our four years. But our confidence and arrogance was short-lived, for soon wemet the flame in the Department of Pharmacology with its Doctors Boyd and Scharf, and quiz conferences. We found to our immense grief that talk of a cat's nine lives was poppycock, and that it was extremely easy for a cat to lose its one life. That mid-year request for our photographs was also enough to take the wind out of our sails. Bacteriology was a very interesting course and held no terrors for any of us, but Dr. Florence could always be depended upon to keep the boys at work. Her amazing faculty for knowing the name of each student on the first day was something to marvel at. Dr. Youland's thymicostaticuslymphaticus, Dr. Yerbury's raising of the anterior skirt, and Dr. Leinoff's diction also served as intimate parts of the Sophomoric pattern. The latter two courses made us think of our rela- tionship to the patient for the first time. We may truly say that our second year was our introduction to Medicine. Q In all educational institutions the Iuniors apparently bear the brunt of all activities, social and didactic. We were no exception as witness the enormous number of courses we were called upon to carry. The immensity of the task before us-32 courses, and the friction engendered by the constant rubbing of our hindermost parts on the benches of the various lecture rooms were sufficient to

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SENIOR3 Class of 1937

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By FRANK I. PBISCO produce a heat comparable to any hot Summer's day. Our medical training was in full bloom now, nourished, as it were, by the tears of the peritoneum for the dead that lay within the gall-stone tombs of the Biliary ways. T How will one ever forget- the electrician , the ghoul of life, Essner's Sotto-voce Soliloquies, House's sleep-pro- voking propensities, Eaton and his entourage, Ganders and his in-and-oddities. This was our last year of intimate contact with the college for henceforth our time was to be spent in the hospitals and clinics. It was our last chance to enjoy our daily associations as a group and who can say we did not make the most of the occasion. The union of Flower Hospital with the Fifth Avenue Hospital afforded us more than ample facilities for clinical iw' l 3 work. In toto, the Iunior year was a highly active, instructive and pleasur- able one, properly equipping us for our work in the Senior year. Then finally the Autumn of our medical training. Thought and action, word and deed until now have been two separate forms of consciousness. The great necessity now is that we act according to our thoughts, and think according to our acts. We have sufficient knowledge to enable us to meet the patient and his problem. We are able to gain some satisfaction in the thought that in some small way we are able to help him. The one sad note in the even tenor of our ways is that our college activities are on the wa:ne. We meet but once a week in a clannish gathering to keep alive the flickering glow of kinship which our three years together has built up, a kinship not only to our- selves as a group, but to our Alma Mater. Soon we shall be free of one an- other, we shall have shed our courses and our professors as the trees shed their leaves in the fall, and we shall bask in the Autumn glow of pleasant memories of friendships and incidents, of college and faculty. A few months, a final gathering of the clan amid pomp and splendor, a sheepskin, and our medical training will be a fait accompli . But while the academic influence of New York Medical College now gives place to the practical experience of interneships, there remain memories that will persist through the years. As we scatter to hospitals located in all parts of the country, the recollections of the four long years of hardship and kinship at school will serve to lighten the burdens of future work. The fear filled fresh- man days, the satiated sophomore days, the crowded junior days, and the leisurely senior days, all shall-to a certain extent-mellow the remaining years of our life. Frankly, we can hope, too, that the years to come-with the dignity and honor that we will in all likelihood acquire-will eliminate the petty mannerisms which we may have unconsciously demonstrated at school: such as, the noisy, undignified actions which Dr. Boyd so con- sistently objected to-without avail, the inability to act or to think independently of one's friends, and the all too fre- quent desire to unblushingly ingratiate ourselves into the good graces of our professors. A broader viewpoint of Medicine is needed, and we have been given the neces- sary inspiration and instruction. The Ethical Culture courses, which-to the unthinking-seemed unnecessary, should serve as a guide for all of our future activities. What appeared to be so alien to practical medicine was, in reality, the basis of the esteem with which the medical profession has always been considered. X Q Ein I.. Fifty-seven