Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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candidate and snapped ' Supposing you could not get a surgical residency — then would you accept one on the Medical Service?” The answer was a rather feeble Yes.” The Professor of Medicine continued the attack, then you would accept a medical residency just to get into the University Hospital?” There was a pause as there appeared to be only one answer to this question or the truth must be told. The candidate raised his head and said haltingly The residency in Medicine would give me a chance to work under Dr. Spiller in Neurology, to prepare for surgery under Dr. Frazier whose work I have always admired.” Both the Professor of Medicine and Surgery looked shocked. That anyone should prefer one of the specialties” to their departments was beyond comprehension! The other members of the Committee were rocking with laughter. With obvious contempt the Professors of Medicine and Surgery said in chorus, That is all, you may go.” The other candidates realized by the noise in the Committee room and the flushed face that appeared again in their midst that disaster had overtaken one of their number at least. More than an hour later the selections of the Committee were announced. That was the blackest hour in Temple Fay's life. Pride alone kept him from leaving the group awaiting the verdict. It was obvious he had failed in the crucial moment of his dreams. Was it fate again that allowed the first seven names to be slowly read off along with the date of appointment to service? Vacancies were filled in the Hospital every three months so that the last appointment meant a delay of almost one year before beginning service. The eighth name was that of his friend who sat beside him. There was an unconscious move to escape from the room but the announcer was continuing. Owing to the fact that two vacancies now exist on the resident staff of the Hospital, the Committee has made the following special appointments Mr. Temple Fay will report for interne duty to the surgical division of the hospital next Monday but will be required to attend major classes throughout the remainder of the year . . Rapid realization of many dreams followed during the two and a half years spent as Resident in the University Hospital as he became associated actively in work under Dr. Spiller and Dr. Frazier. During this period he exchanged whenever possible, optional services for those in neurology and neurosurgery. At the termination of his interneship he was appointed to the faculty and staff of the University of Pennsylvania in both the departments of Neurology and Surgery. He immediately became assistant to Dr. Spiller and shortly after assistant to Dr. Frazier, as well. His teaching of neurology and neuropathology began at this time and continued at the University of Pennsylvania until his appointment to the Chair of Neurosurgery at Temple University in nineteen hundred and twenty-nine. For several years he taught general surgery and neurosurgery in Dr. Frazier's department. His appointment to the hospital of his dreams came a few days after completion of his interneship, when Dr. Spiller made him assistant neurologist 16

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and Dean William Pepper linally consented to arrange the details oi transter and Temple Fay settled down to the duties oi the day beside the men and institution that had represented an ideal since early childhood. In September oi 1918 his class was called into active service and hopes ran high (or quick transportation to the war zone, but the Armistice followed in November and on December 18th the corps was discharged irom its duties in the Army to return to the peaceiui paths oi medical study. His junior year in Medical School iound him closer to his dream and his devotion to Neurology occupied his spare time and vacation as a volunteer in the Neurological Dispensary. He watched and followed Dr. Frazier throughout the long operations and managed to create in the eyes oi this chiei whom he never met, an amused tolerance to a student who maniiested such constant interest in a subject that others in the class gladly avoided. The crisis oi his liie came in his senior year. An interneship in the University Hospital meant Dr. Frazier, Dr. Spiller, Dr. Deaver and Dr. DeSchweinitz as chieis, with an opportunity to go on in this long-chosen iield oi neurosurgery. No greater group oi men existed for diagnosis and surgery of the nervous system. Failure to obtain this appointment was to abandon the dreams and ideals oi a lifetime. There was no second or third choice — Temple Fay determined to gamble all on this one appointment alone. There were only eight appointments to be made irom the class oi 119 students; 35 were applying for residencies in the University Hospital. Selections were made primarily on one's standing in the class. In spite oi three years oi hard work for a place near the top, he iound his name in tenth place and the men ahead as determined and eligible as he was. The Faculty Committee for selection met to interview the applicants. They had been known in the past to take the first eight men in the class outright. They probably would again. Once more a curious turn oi fate decided the issue. The Committee was composed oi the Professor oi Medicine; the Proiessor oi Surgery; the Proiessors oi Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Dean oi the School oi Medicine. The candidates were called in alphabetical order. Those who returned from the closed conference room were eagerly questioned as to what went on inside. The rumor spread that the Proiessor oi Medicine was having a field day quizzing the students while the other members oi the committee listened in silence. It was best to please him at all costs. Appointments were divided between iour medical and four surgical residencies. Each candidate so far interviewed had expressed a preference for medicine and received the blessing of the Professor oi Medicine and the scowl oi the Professor oi Surgery. Temple Fay found himself before the Committee. The Proiessor oi Medicine began the questions after the Dean had read the record. What service did he prefer? He expressed a preference for surgery. The Proiessor oi Medicine looked startled. The Professor oi Surgery broke in, Here is the first man that shows good common sense. The Proiessor of Medicine disagreed. Personalities were exchanged between the two. The rest oi the Committee looked pleased. The Proiessor of Medicine returned to questioning the bewildered 15

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to the Philadelphia General Hospital in 1923, following which he rose to Chief of the Neurosurgical Division of the hospital in 1927 and after fourteen years of service to this hospital he received this year (1937) the distinction of being elected to the position of Active Consulting Neurosurgeon to the Philadelphia General Hospital, one of the youngest men ever to receive such an honor. Thirty-two years had elapsed between the time of his dreams in the shaded woodlands of Bainbridge Island in the West, where the Philadelphia General Hospital as an ideal was first etched on the background of his mind, and the achievement of the highest active position on the staff of this great institution in the East. Unaccountable also is the fact that he should be selected by the American College of Surgeons to write the History of Old Blockley the Institution of his dreams, which was published (1932) in Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, in commemoration of the bicentennial celebration of this first of American Hospitals. That his first name should eventually coincide with the University that he has chosen to work for and teach in, is another strange whim of fate. Named after his great, great Uncle and founder of the Reading Railroad, Temple Fay of New York, there was not a moment's hesitation in his decision to come to Temple University when the invitation to accept the Chair of Neurosurgery was extended by Dr. Babcock on behalf of the Dean and Faculty of the School of Medicine. Since that day his every effort has been devoted to the teaching of students and the pursuit of investigation into the most difficult problems of medicine. Truly there is a Divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will is the straight forward theme that runs through this most unusual biography. Here is a man, now our Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, who has had a heritage rich as gold itself and a goal as clear as a perfect diamond. Today as we see him, with nimble fingers in rubber gloves or blue eyes sparkling as he presents a case, it is hard to realize that he was a boy with a dog, a gun, and a dream. Now he is our teacher, our friend, a man of attainment . . . but still with a dream. 17