University of Michigan Medical and Nursing School - Aequanimitas Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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I have been doing research in the Department of Physiology wider Dr. David Bohr since my freshman year. My experiments have been performed on isolated blood vessels and have been aimed at providing information about the smooth muscles of the walls of arteries and veins. Various specific projects have ranged from exploring the mechanism of action of angiotensin on vascular smooth muscles to describing the physical characteristics of arteries, The broad aim of research in this areas is to define the characteristics of vascular smooth muscle in physiologic as well as pathologic states as well as to contribute to the understanding of the basic physiology of contractile tissue, The opportunity to do work of this type has been a high point in my medical education, I ,Z ,I Harvey Soarks '63 128

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James Simpson '63 During my selected period this summer I worked with Dr. Aaron Stern in the pediatric cardiology unit following patients through their initial evaluation, cardiac catheteriza- tion, surgery, a.nd post operative return visits to the clinic. I also did some work with the intracardiac phonocardiog- raphy. This experience not only gave me some contact with some of the diagnostic procedures, but also increased my clinical experience in the diagnosis of congenital heart disease. During my vacation I continued the work of my selected period with a fellowship from the Michigan Heart Associa- tion and also started another project with the cooperation of Professor Chichiro Kikuchi of the Nuclear Engineering Department. I built a modulating recording system capable of putting low frequency signals such as the electrocardio- gram and pressures from strain gage transducers on magnetic tape. This permits the signals to be stored for later use, transmitted over telephone lines, or even run through analyitical computers. Dave Heaps '63 During my Senior year, I was able to combine my three month Selective Study period with my vacation and spend atotal of six months on research projects sponsored by the Department of Sur- gery. This extended period of time allowed me to experience the many facets involved in research work, and in addition, to carry through on some projects from inception to completion. Rather than carrying out one or two particular phases of any given project, I found that a better understanding of the problems facing the research worker could be obtained by encountering the entire project. The work in which I was involved consisted of several projects. One of these involved the effects on survival of various methods of fluid therapies in dogs following a standardized period of hem- orrhagic shock and operative trauma. Another project was con- cerned with the development of a direct surgical technique for repair of lateral duodenal fistulae. Two other programs in which I was partially involved were the study of a radiosulfate technique for the measurement of functional extracellular fluid volume and the use of hepatic hypothermia to demonstrate the detoxifying capa- bilities of the liver. The benefits of my research experience were three in number. First, I gained first-hand insight into the various fields of investi- gation. Second, I learned to work out many of the technical problems that are encountered in the course of investigation. Third, by working in the Animal Laboratory, I was able to gain a greater amount of dexterity in the use of surgical instruments. In all, my six months of investigational work were most stimulating and educational. 127

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John Chimo skey '63 .E ' ig The opportimity to gain research experience is one of the highly personal ex- periences available to the medical student. Once he has determined to outline a specific question a.nd to attempt to demonstrate an answer by carefully controlled observation a.nd investigation he has undertaken one of the most satisfyingly chal- lenging and maturing tasks of his education. He will experience the realities of doubt and frustration early, occurring alternately with excited confidence. His crisp thinking will be at once tempered with monotony a.nd heartache as he becomes more personally involved in the investigation. For perhaps the first time he will experience an attempt to answer one of his own questions in acalculated analytical manner. He will necessarily gain respect for the ability to phrase a question, admiration for the ingenuity and perseverance required to translate the conceptual problem into a form that can be tested in a biological system, and he will derive real satisfaction from the ability to state an answer to the question, however it must be qualified. And from this last experience, qualification, mustproceedacertain respect and reservation in assessing all other facts and a humility with respect to truth a.nd its continual flux. In fact, he may be sufficiently impressed with these realities, his ovnm subjective experience and broadening horizon to be unable to lead anything other than a critical investigative life there after. 129