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

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Researcli aQX

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The senior selective study program has offered the student numerous opportunities to study in fields of his particular interest. Fortunately, the combination of vacation and selective period offers six months which can be used for a specific project. Although the large majority of medical students will not enter a field of research, to become involved in a project, to try out new ideas, and to review the literature is a rewarding experience regardless of the student's initial interest. Many who feel they would like research find out only after trying it, that it is not for them, while others who reluctantly par- ticipated because of their program demands, have found it much to their liking and have made great strides. Presently, the field of academic medicine re- quires participation in a specific field of research and the earlier one can gain experience the sooner he will be able to participate actively in answering some of the vast number of questions that are nec- cessary for ultimate clinical adaptation and benefit. Although the practicing physician may not be ac- tively engaged in research, the understanding of its needs, frustrations, and the approach to perplexing problems would benefit his daily practice by helping him evaluate the merits of proposed new methods of treatment. We have been working in the field of transplanta- tion. The ultimate benefits of being able to trans- plant organs successfully from man to man are obvi- ous. Many methods of prolonging survival of trans- planted tissues are being investigated without any truly startling breakthroughs. One of the newest ap- proaches is the use of various toxic drugs. Some positive results are beginning to appearinthe litera- ture. However, in this field as in most others, the real answer lies at very basic levels of research. We feel the answer is not far away but it will require the sound basic approach of the immunochemist and biochemist to answer the many puzzling and contra- dictory findings presently being reported by many empirical investigators in this field. Gene Bolles, '63

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Richard E rbe '64 There are those who criticize medical school as being a sheltered environment, unrepresentative of the real world with which the physician must deal appropriately if he is to be useful. One fortunate result of this protection is that the medical student, to a degree that exceeds that in any other period in his training and far exceeding that of most practicing physicians, has the opportunity to follow his interests to their natu- ral outcomes. All medical students face frequently, questions which they are unable to answer themselves or through the usual ready-made sources of information. A few students pursue their questions systematically, either gathering new data and informa- tion or integrating and revising the experience of others, Ultimately the results are made widely available, The questions may be clinical or non-clinical. The answers, in either case, may be applied for the direct benefit of patients, the satisfaction of the inquiring mind or the broadening of medical knowledge for its own sake. Medical re- search is a collective effort by many interested people, and the medical student has a particularly great opportunity to join in and contribute to this effort. My summer project attempted to find the causal factors in Hanoxic cataract, a reversible opacity of the lens produced when rats are exposed to simulated high alti- tudes. The problem was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Theodore Sippel, Assis- tant Professor of Anatomy. who is working on the respiratory metabolism of the lens. He had already noted that isolated lenses remain clear even in the complete absence of oxygen for up to twenty-four hours. Hence, a lack of oxygen is not directly respon- sible for anoxic cataracts, and I began looking for changes in the composition of the aqueous humor. Aqueous from hypoxic rats was found to have a lactic acid content a- bout three times greater than normal. I hope to go on to the problem of determining whether the aquous pH was lowered at the same time. However, it was found that the electrical conductivity of the aqueous was raised to a much greater extent than could be accounted for by the increased lactic acid, so that other factors such as hyper- tonicity could be involved. Although more work is needed to complete this study, it has definitely added much to my experiences in research. Arthur W. Fleming '65 Thomas E. Bittker '65 During the past research season Dr. Paul A. Rondell and I have been exploring the sodium and water concentrating mechanisms of the rat renal papilla, From our stud- ies we were able to conclude the following: maximal physiological levels of antidiur- etic hormone have no effect on the kidneys' capacity to concentrate sodiumg adrenal- ectomy results in a 30572 decrease in renal sodium concentrating capacity: and adrenal- ectomy causes a 5012 decrease in urine concentrating capacity. To consider these ex- periments in any detail would be absurd in a discussion as brief as this-instead, I shall try to communicate to you my impression of the attraction of research. The basis of this attraction lies in the opportunity for discovery that awaits the in- vestigator. This chance, that of uncovering something unique in man's world, is re- lated to the force that urges man to geographical exploration or teases the armchair navigator with wanderlust or brings delight to a child when he sees a mysterious creature, the existence of which adults have taken for granted. Translated into the perspective of the researcher, it is the hope to examine a phenomenon and from this examination obtain an understanding that men did not possess previous to the initia- tion of the researcher's efforts, 135