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

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iagnosis came with its cast of thousands. If one wanted to maintain patient-clinician continuity, the patient would have to wait till next year. The fourth year students did teach us all the important things; Now we know how to go for breaks, dodge patients, and avoid clinicians with charts. We all learned the I.emont 1-10 pain scale. We can elicit pain even from the most asymptomatic 90 year old lady. And, “when in doubt, inject it out”. I thought we’d have to go to odd-even steroid rationing. While taking histories, patients told us about their bouts with Screamin’ Mary Jesus, fireballs of the F.uharist, the Arthuritis. and the Gouch. And after all our in depth questions about their eyes, ears, noses, throats, stomachs, and rectums, they all asked. “Doctor, why can’t you just cut my nails?” Orthopedics was obviously a close-knit unit. Dr. Pressman set world records by flinging a BMO the length of the clinic floor. Dr. Jay showed us how easy it was to deal with kids . except on Tuesdays. The department chairman went natural with his hair. He figured that if nobody recognized him, he wouldn’t have to hear cases. But, the driving force of Ortho was the threat of traffic tickets or late and loitering offenses. Stay out of the halls, keep your drawers neat, and fill your bottles. We didn’t like it, but we went with it anyway. We learned BMO’s, UMO’s, and saw some UFO’s — the Unscientific Futile Orthotic — for patients you don’t want to see again. And with Ortho’s five week back-up, you won’t ever have to see them again.

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hat summer ended with the fabled “National Boards . The subjects you thought you did best on were your worst scores and vice versa. Oh, those curves. Actually, we should have all gotten an extra five points across the board just for finding the place. It would have been easier to find if we had taken it in Chicago. That really was tricky of them to have told us the wrong place. Then came our third year — The Clinic. This was the year that would make doctors of us. We all went our separate ways and compared notes the whole year: What clinician to present to? W'ho to avoid? Who likes injections? Who wants paddings? Rigids or BMO’s? Surgery upstairs or in the hospital? Ham and cheese or just plain bologna? All of these important questions would be answered. Stations $ o begin with, there was the PM menagerie. You could get a 2 on your evaluation if you were good enough to get Dr. Karpo to leave his desk and examine a patient. No one got a 21 There were always the Three Musketeers — Kwasnik, Orowitz, and Maglietta. They each had their specialities to teach; Kwasnik had the ulcers, Orowitz had the silicone, and Maglietta showed us how to treat and street and never touch the feet. There was Dr. Corecki who ran the department with an iron hand ... when he wasn’t injured. He was the only clinician to be on the disabled list three times. We all learned many handy tricks from kindly Dr. Masters; the old Pro., Dr. Sterns, taught us not to practice medicine or orthopedics; DPM’s just don’t do that. Our class was the first in the PM specialty clinics. The patients had arthritis, dermatitis, ulcers, poor circulation and geriatric feet.

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n to surgery, and time to impress everyone for residencies. We learned the ropes of booking a standard PCPM case. Bring the patient to Insurance, bring the pink form to the OR, book the case with the OR, get x-rays, get blood work on the patients, get the consent form signed, and then calmly wait for the patient to cancel the case. We learned a lot at the new eight o’clock conferences. We even learned how often some clinicians forgot they scheduled it. The Chief of Surgery set stringent rules which he made sure to never let us forget. Along with the Chief was a host of newcomers. Dr. Martin taught us surgical precision and concern for the patient. Dr. Mandracchia showed us a flair and did his best to keep us cool in the OR. He even dared to try to bring some interesting cases upstairs to teach us gasp! Dr. Jolly got mad and left PCPM because they wouldn’t let him do triples upstairs. And no description of the surgery department is complete without the two lovely ladies who run the OR. They make things pleasant in that pressured arena. r he rest of clinic was taken up by taking and reading x-rays. Physical Therapy (Does anyone know who Dr. Rabin is?), Anesthesia rotation, Orthotics Lab with Dr. Lebovith (Did I ever tell you the story of ... ?), and Gait Study with Univac Dr. Jacoby, who gives a new slant on angle and base of gait. For all of you who couldn’t make them, here is a brief description of classes. Naturally, nobody ever realized you were absent since we decided not to sign the attendance sheet, or did we? There was Physical Therapy and 957 Variations of hydrotherapy. Remember, douche is a form of hydrotherapy. In PVD. our resident expert told us that atherosclerosis sounds like choo-choo’-choo while Raynaud’s sounds like choo'-choo-choo. All aboard! Dermatology may not have told us how to treat atopic dermatitis or tinea pedis, but it was a sure-Fire remedy for insomnia. Our psychiatry course taught us how to deal with depressed metatarsals and split personalities. Dr. Jay showed us the importance of keeping one hand on a diaper while examining an infant.