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

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 Robert L. Johnson, A.B., LL.D. President Temple University Lord Bryce once wrote that medicine is the only profession that labors constantly to remove the reason for its own existence. In that sense, every one of you is foredoomed to failure. Men will continue to sicken and finally, to die. But because of you, thousands of people are going to live longer and more fully than would otherwise be possible. In those lengthened spans they will increase the world’s knowledge, its wealth, and its happiness. Their toil will add to our holdings in granaries, lock boxes and seats of learning. They will serve the state, build homes, strengthen the church, give us children, and discover new truths. These inestimable riches will in a real sense trace back to your wisdom and skill. Because of your profession you will become great benefactors. Remem' bering that, you have a right to be proud. At the same time, the essence and the source of life will be as mysterious to you, although you work with it daily, as it was to the ancients. Your knowledge can be nothing more than a speck in the expanding uni' verse of the unknown. Your skill is simply the instrument of a Power beyond understanding. Remembering that, you also have the privilege of being humble. 6 Robert Livingston Johnson

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William N. Parkinson, B.S., M.D., M.Sc., F.A.C.S., LL.D. Dean Temple University School of Medicine To the members of the Senior Class: My advice to the Class of ‘51 can be expressed in four words: “Make time for read-ing.” I would not have any of you in the position of the Harrisburg physician who, a few weeks ago, wrote a letter of protest to the editor of a medical journal because among the assistant editors was listed the name of a well-known pharmacologist, often quoted in the medical literature, which unfortunately happened to be the same as that of a chemist convicted not long ago of espionage. The Harrisburg physician thereby showed his ignorance of medical literature and also his lack of more than a superficial knowledge of events reported in the daily newspapers. Whether we like it or not, to the majority of people the doctor is the one symbol of royalty which they consciously or unconsciously retain, be they residents of Park Avenue in New York or the hilltops of the South. The doctor has spent more years in acquiring “book learning” than anyone they know. That is why he is so often chosen as an advisor (and not medical) to various cultural groups. That is why his patients ask his opinion on every public question —the worthwhileness of the new city charter, the choice of a presidential candidate, the probable outcome of the World Series. You and I know that no human being could live up to these expectations. Yet we must do our best not to disappoint our public by keeping ourselves as well informed as possible. How does one find time, in a world clamoring for doctors, to read anything except the progress in one's field of medical practice? you ask. One makes time for it, and one forms the habit early in one's career. A clergyman I know with a full round of activities seven days a week reserves the time from 10 p.m. to I a.m. for reading. Perhaps some such plan could be adopted by the beginning physician. Radio news casts and phonograph recordings of the world’s best literature and music and of lessons in foreign languages provide additional ways of widening one's horizon. Your choice of subject matter must, of course, be limited. You can build up reading lists and group the titles under “Must” and “Desirable. Professional material will, of course, be placed under “Must.” You should also place there a generous portion of cultural material— literature, music, art. Don't fall into the error of thinking that the few required English courses that you took reluctantly as an undergraduate covered the essentials of world literature. They merely grazed the surface. With your habits of concentration you can make yourselves masters of arts without benefit of diplomas from universities. I do not need to remind you that culture is not limited or even assured by attendance in classrooms. It is the end result of a life time spent in practicing the precept that it is man's moral duty to be intellectual. With best wishes for a successful professional career and much happiness, I am Cordially yours, William N. Parkinson Dean 7