New York University School of Medicine - Medical Yearbook (New York, NY)

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9, Ik I! J ir I

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'Dedicatiom JDHN HENRY WYCKOFF, HONEST TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATOR, THIS VIOLET IS SINCERELY DEDICATED

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E A E DR WYCKOFE INTERVIEWED GIVES INTERESTING PERSONAL VIEWS TO VIOLET REPORTER 1 9 1 9 x x D 1 p .1mp.:-p.p.1.p.p.y.p.p-1-x-rx-1-1-D-1-rx-I-I -D-D-D4'PP'Y'P'3 ,'9 ' ' ' ',', ',', ', ', ', .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.p-rx-x-1-x-x-so-1-r-rr-D-D-rl-r - ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' o . K I ' c IPPGCRATES in his Aphorisms at one point stressed the fact that judgment I 'W is difficult. Any individual who holds a responsible position is without doubt the subject of much discussion, opinions of a variegated nature are formed by those who in one way' or another come into contact with the different components of his personality. We know men for what they do, but how seldom for what they are! . These were the thoughts that went through your correspondents mind after an interview with Dr. ,john Henry Wyckoff. The official den did not house the pro- verbial lion, but rather a kindly, dynamic-looking gentleman who immediately put me at my ease and showed a sincere interest in the subsequent proceedings. We launched into the subject of what policies had guided Dr. Wyckoff in his administration as Dean of the New York University and.Bellevue Hospital Medical College. After ,a thoughtful pause he answered that the greatest and most important thing to be done for the student is to teach him how to learn-to teach him to learn medicine rather than to cram his head full of facts! He went on to say that the individual is given tools and experience, tools he gets from books and from tech- niques which he learns. The school provides opportunity for their use. Experience is obtained only by contact with patients. The great job-the most important job, stressed Dr. Wyckoif, is to arrange it so that the patient and student can come together with a minimum loss of time to the student and without any loss to the patient. He continued by saying that the study of the patient is graded according to the year of the student and the amount of learning he has thus far acquired. I was impressed by the simplicity and by the wisdom of these remarks, watching the Dean looking upward with half-closed eyes, and bringing his fingertips together in regular rhythm, I could not help but feel that he was trying to be straightforward rather than verbose. As an afterthought Dr. Wyckoff added, The school must provide opportunity to learn things that cannot be obtained from textbook-s or lectures. The experi- mental method is used in the planning of courses-if new things work, all well and good, if not, they are scrapped. To my question of how and when one can evaluate this education, Dr. Wyckoff replied that if you are thoughtful and introspective, and if you know how, it may be attempted ten years after graduation! Believing that personal facts are vital to the construction of a word portrait, your correspondent elicited the following facts: Dr. Wyckoff was very much -interested in track during his college days, and held the college record for the half mile and hurdles, he also placed in the Intercollegiates. At present he is too busy to follow sports. He is a constant reader and prefers biography to any other form of literature. He was .reluctant to select a favorite sculptor, artist and poet but he professed an interest in these subjects. He finally relented and chose Shakespeare as his favorite poet.. His hobbies are the New York University College of Mediciiie, Bellevue Hospital and dirt gardening. He is well read in, but no longer reads philosophy and prefers the schools of optimism. He attends the opera as often as possible and mentioned Wagner s Pmxrifal as an example of the type of composition he most en- joyed. The personal qualities he most admires in people are honesty and tact.