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

Page 9 text:

Robert Cohen was born in Philadelphia in 1908. the only child of A. J. Cohen, M.D., a general practitioner who was then affiliated with what was to become the Phipps Institute. One year later, in 1909, his father began Eagleville Sanitarium, the first tuberculosis hospital to be established near a city, an act which at that time was considered therapeutic heresy. Dr. Cohen’s childhood, between the ages of 3 and 8. was marked by a series of illnesses and many operations for osteomyelitis, which somewhat limited his boyhood activities. After graduating from Central High School, Bob Cohen completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 3Vi years. Following this, he began his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where, between his sophomore and junior years, in the summer of 1930, he served a junior internship at Eagleville. After graduation from medical school, Dr. Cohen took a two year rotating internship at Blocklcy. This was followed by one year as a pathology resident in Chicago, and then he returned to Eagleville for 1 V$ years to fill a resident vacancy. After this, Dr. Cohen studied under Wykoff for one year at the Bellevue heart clinic. It was with this experience and training behind him that in 1936 he became a part time clinical assistant in medicine at Temple Medical School where his father was also affiliated. There, with Hugo Roesler, he worked in the Medical and Heart Clinics and on the medical wards, while his weekends were spent at Eagleville, aiding his father. 5

Page 8 text:

DEDICATION In the fall of 1957, when the Class of 1961 was in its youngest moments of existence, we first met a gentleman who was introduced in the wee hours of an 8 o'clock Comprehensive Medicine Clinic as a specialist in diseases of the chest—Dr. Robert V. Cohen. We knew very little about him at the beginning of this first encounter, but it required only a scant few seconds to realize that we were in the presence of a most unusual man. From the very first moment he spoke, until the end of this first hour, we heard a scholarly presentation (interspersed with infectious humor) that was stimulating, informative, and at the same time, both didactic and enjoyable. As sophomores we were fortunate and delighted to have Dr. Cohen as our lecturer on chest pathology. His mere entrance into the classroom was the signal for a spontaneous roar of pleasure and approval. Our relationship deepened when as juniors we spent three weeks at the Blockley division of Philadelphia General Hospital, working in close personal contact with Dr. Cohen and getting the benefit of his excellent instruction in physical diagnosis of chest diseases. His interest in his students, his skill as an instructor, his sense of humor, his mild manner, his earnest desire to teach—anti to learn— all these have combined to influence the Class of 1961 to dedicate this yearbook to Robert V. Cohen. 4

Page 10 text:

 In 1942, when the world was occupied by a major war, Bob Cohen was fighting his own war—to be accepted into the United States Army. His persistent efforts finally met with success, and the newly appointed military physician spent his entire four years of service at Fort Story, Virginia where he had been sent because of a yellow fever” epidemic. This was in reality an epidemic of hepatitis following a program of yellow fever immunization with contaminated vaccine. Here at Fort Story, he and Libby (his recently acquired wife, Elizabeth) lived for four years in a summer cottage equipped with no heat and black widow spiders in the basement. In this idyllic setting, where the mosquitos were so bad they drove you into the water where the jellyfish were so bad they drove you back onto the beach with the mosquitos,” three significant events took place, all of them boys. In 1946, when the war was over and the five Cohens returned to civilian life. Dr. Cohen found his father's specialty brought to new prominence because the number of cases of tuberculosis had markedly increased in the post-war period. Dr. Cohen began to spend a great deal of time helping his father at Eagleville. and consequently, became tagged as a specialist in tuberculosis and chest diseases. He resumed his academic duties at Temple, where, in 1956, he became a full time instructor, dividing his time between this hospital and the chest ward at Philadelphia General Hospital. 6