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

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During the next twenty-five years, Cushing, by means of refined technique, lowered this catastrophic figure to thirty per cent. At the present time, the operative mortality is on the low side of five per cent. This drop has been accomplished by a host of medical and surgical aids, such as electro-cautery, antibiotics, hemostatic agents, better application of knowledge concerning anaesthesia, pre-operative and post-operative care, and last (but only for emphasis), men such as he who embodies neurosurgery to all of us. Dr. Michael Scott. Dr. Scott was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on August 22, 1906. He was raised in these environs and one of his earliest contacts with medicine was during the war years when he worked as an errand boy on the wards of Base Hospital No. 20 in Fox Hills, Staten Island. This created an ambition whose first fruition occurred when he enrolled in the premedical course at Rutgers University in 1924. During this time, he was greatly influenced and helped by Dr. Nelson, the professor of zoology. Through personal advice and encouragement this man did much to crystallize the aims of the future neurosurgeon. Jefferson Medical College became the next step toward the goal of neurosurgery. Dr. Scott entered this school in the fall of 1928. During the summer vacations of his school years, he gained invaluable experience and training by working in the Trenton State Hospital for the Insane. These months further directed his aims toward neurology, neuropsychiatry. and the ultimate therapeutic goal of organic central nervous system disease: neurosurgery. Dr. Cotton, under whom Dr. Scott worked during this time, provided a humane approach to psychiatric problems through his beliefs that the mentally sick should be treated as those who had organic disease and not outlawed from society as had been the treatment in the past. His beliefs may be summarized in the quotation. The mentally ill are as you and 1 in their emotional reactions except that they have taken refuge in a single mechanism of defense. whereas you and I live utilizing and employing all mechanisms of defense.” Following graduation. Dr. Scott’s internship 171

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DEDICATION Michael Scott B.S.. M.D.. M.Sc. (Neurosurgery), F.A.C.S., F.I.C.S. We, the CLASS of 1950, are graduating, not at the end of an epoch, but rather into an era which is witnessing and participating in the greatest strides the science and art of medicine has ever known. The past fifty years have been illustrative of the problems accomplished and knowledge gained in all branches of medicine. Neurosurgery, as a specialty, encapsulates and typifies the gain in knowledge over that short span of years. Although its conception took place before 1900, neurosurgery's labor pains and birth did not begin until 1902 when Cushing’s first case of cerebral tumor was verified by autopsy. At this time, the neurosurgical operative mortality was a fantastic and chilling ninety per cent. [6]

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was spent at Jersey City Medical Center where he met the future Mrs. Scott, whom he married in 1938. The next step was a residency at New Jersey State Hospital for Epileptics. This was one of the first of such institutions and the pattern has since been repeated in states throughout the country. Through his associations here. Dr. Scott came to know of l)r. Fay, who. at this time, was particularly interested in the surgical treatment of the convulsive state. Therefore, it seemed logical to apply for and be accepted as Dr. Fay's resident in neurosurgery. At the end of his residency, he received an M.Sc. in neurology and neurosurgery, and became Dr. Fay’s assistant. In 1943 Dr. Scott became associate professor in charge of the department of neurosurgery at Temple University Medical School. Thus, at thirty-seven, he found himself at the peak of his profession, engaged in the most exacting of the specialties. Dr. Scott thoroughly enjoys his neurological and neurosurgical work. He compares a C.N.S. lesion to a jig-saw puzzle where, in both, ap- parently meaningless pieces must be put together until finally the whole picture is clear. All signs, symptoms, and laboratory aids are put together to localize exactly the C.N.S. lesion. In neurosurgery. Dr. Scott has at hand an instrument with which he can do something for an apparently hopeless neurological problem. This relieves him of the tension involved in watching a hemiplegic child die by degrees. With his surgical skill, he is able to remove the offending agent and create a useful member of society out of the child. Dr. Scott feels that in the light of recent advances in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, the future of neurosurgery lies broad and bright ahead. Although the busy day of a neurosurgeon allows little time for hobbies. Dr. Scott finds some part of each day to devote to his family. The Scotts have four children; Robert Michael, eight; Richard David, six; William Leonard, four; and Judith Ann, nine months. Dr. Scott further rounds out his off time by dabbling in photography and working in his machine shop. There were many things prompting us when 181