Medical Professors Research Articles

Retirement of emeritus medical professors of the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin.

Limited data from 14 medical professors of two universities suggest that they are like industrial scientists and dentists in retirement. All three types require a preparation for a life of leisure as a component of preparation for retirement.

Present Scenario Affecting F.M.G.'s

The pract ice of medicine in this count ry. is among other things dictated by the law of supply & demand. American organized medicine claims Ihal there is an oversupply of physicians in this country. This would have been good for the consumers (patients), because this would have resulted in lower costs (fees) and availability and easy access to desired services part icularly in less desirable & indigent areas. However, this is bad for the self or rather selfish interests of physicians because Ihis would cause lower incomes and less luxuries in life. Furthermore, the medical school professors can no longer justify the need for government subsidies, foundation aid money from the private sector, etc. , thus reducing the amount of dollars avai lable for personal salaries and needs.

Hemoglobin in mammalian oxygen transport: ingenious formulations not quite in accord with nature.

PERSPECTIVES IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE Volume 28 · Number 2 ¦ Winter 1985 HEMOGLOBIN IN MAMMAUAN OXYGEN TRANSPORT: INGENIOUS FORMULATIONS NOT QUITE IN ACCORD WITH NATURE MARK D. ALTSCHULE* Introduction SamuelJohnson once remarked that time alone can establish the value of works that are not "raised upon principles demonstrable and scientifick" but owe their appeal "wholly to observation and experience." This comment offers an explanation for the haste with which many medical professors and some biologists for centuries have tried to validate observations made in nature by recourse to whatever scientific notions were current. In the seventeenth century, these notions were iatromathematics and iatrochemistry; in the nineteenth century, they were fragmentary physics of the reductionist Berlin group; and in the twentieth century, they may be some aspects of molecular biology. (Galen's humoral system and the derived pseudochemistry of Paracelsus are too blatantly nonsensical to require discussion here.)Johnson's dichotomous dictum may not be applicable to the life sciences because the "principles demonstrable and scientifick" themselves were developed in the laboratory on the basis of "observation and experience" in Nature. These considerations raise several questions. One is: At what point in their accumulation do observations of Nature need to be validated by laboratory science? Can observations of Nature be accepted as convincing even though totally unexplainable by current scientific concepts, ?Francis A. Countway Library ofMedicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021 15.© 1985 by The University of Chicago. AU rights reserved. 003 1-5982/85/2802-042 1$0 1 .00 Perspectives in Biology andMediane, 28, 2 · Winter 1985 | 175 either true or false? These and related questions arise and may be answered by a history of the ideas about oxygen, beginning centuries before oxygen was even discovered. The ancients were convinced that the ambient atmosphere contained a Vivifying Principle, or several of them. In some early systems of thought this Vivifying Principle was believed to be divine: the Divine Breath or Spirit, the Logos, the World Mind, the World Soul, etc. (Today 's psychoanalysts do not recognize the connection of their Collective Unconscious to this primitive hypothetical entity.) The ancients believed that, when Man breathed in air, he inhaled with it some of the Divine Spirit. He might breathe some ofit out upon a loved one, as in the sniffkiss of primitive people, or more specifically in acts such ás described in John 20:22: "He [Jesus] breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost." To this day, Egyptian Catholic (Coptic) priests, after baptizing infants, confirm them by breathing in their faces, saying "Receive the Holy Ghost." Similarly, during the ordination of a Coptic bishop, the other bishops present breathe in the prelate's face. Religious and philosophical ideas about the divine aspects of ambient air held during the past 2,000 years have been discussed elsewhere [I]. The widely accepted system of ideas about the creative atmospheric principle involved not Only theology and philosophy but other aspects of thoughtas well. For example, the atomist Democritus opined that the air we inhaled contained only particles of the Divinely Vivifying Principle, suggesting that it had other components as well. Other thinkers maintained that only a portion of the ambient air—an exquisitely refined component called aether—acted as this Principle. Here then was a system of ideas based neither on "principles demonstrable and scientifick" nor on "observation and experience." Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the system stood unshakable for centuries. Biological concepts were also brought forward from earliest times. It will be recalled that Aristotle, in his Parts ofAnimals, wrote "Some maintain that the Soul of an animal is Fire or some such substance. This is a crude way of putting it; and might be improved upon by saying that the Soul subsists in some body of a fiery nature. The reason for this is that the hot substance is the most serviceable of all for the activities of the soul." It is important to note that early ideas about the Vivifying Principle brought in analogies between combustion and respiration, and these views persisted for centuries. The seventeenth century saw a great increase in writing about respiration . One of the authorities, Richard Lower, made a most...

In search of criteria for the assessment of medical education.

This paper describes results of a study to assess whether an undergraduate educational curriculum is 'relevant'. The people surveyed comprised 290 individuals involved in medical education or health service administration. They were asked to suggest five major criteria for judging whether a medical undergraduate programme is relevant or not and to say whether they felt current curricula meet these criteria. Of those sampled, 40% replied. An analysis of the data from respondents showed that medical school professors and senior administrators of health services in Australia have roughly similar expectations of the outcome of medical education. Both groups were concerned that graduates be conscious of health care requirements and costs, that they have adequate clinical skills, knowledge in medical school subjects and skill in interacting with patients and managing their continuing education. On the various dimensions examined there were frequently strong expressions of dissatisfaction with current achievements.

Religious Correlates of Teenage Drug Use

This paper analyzes the relationship of religiosity and patterns of drug use among students in the seventh through the twelfth grades. Data were collected in a statewide questionnaire survey of more than 30,000 students. Hypotheses regarding the constraining influence of religion on drug use patterns received mixed support. On the one hand religiosity as measured by affiliation and by parochial school attendance did not uniformly constrain drug use. For example, while Catholics and Protestants were relatively low in current use, Jewish teenagers had the highest rate with nonaffiliates the second highest. Extent of involvement in religion (as measured by frequency of attendance), on the other hand, did seem constraining since nonattenders were more than twice as likely to be drug users as were regular weekly attenders. Data on these teenagers' evaluation of drug information sources is also presented. Here it was found that drug users tend to trust traditional sources of Information less than do nonusers and trust those with personal drug experience more than do nonusers. All students, however, whether drug users or not, tended to value information from those presumed to have technical knowledge about drugs, i.e., physicians and medical school professors. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also explored.

A Study on Educational Accountability of Faculty in Medical Schools

Purpose: A college or university faculty can be regarded as an educator, researcher, and service provider. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accountability of medical school professors focusing on the educational duties and to propose the solution and strategy for accountability evaluation of medical school faculty. Methods: The study used questionnaires which was developed in five big categories asking basic information of the faculty, educational activities, subject of the accountability evaluation, and the primary disturbing factor in accomplishing the educational accountability. The questionnaires were asked to 61 faculty members in Yonsei University College of Medicine. Results: The accountability importance of the medical school faculty was research (37.13%), teaching (31.80%), practice medicine (21.97%) and service (9.10%). Much weight was given for research (40.00%) and education (19.42%). The faculty concentrated mostly on delivering learning objectives as their educational activities. The biggest problem affecting the faculty from concentrating on educational accountability was the over workload. Insufficient incentives and lack of interest in education came next. The faculty also showed dissatisfaction with the obscurity of accountability assessment in operation, uniformity of the measurement and the absence of objective assessment standard. Conclusion: Medical schools need to create an environment in support of the faculty to focus on the educational activities. And when evaluating their accountability, the assessment standards need to be systematized and differentiated according to their specialities.

Evaluation of a Symposium on Epilepsy as a Method of Training

A MAJOR PROBLEM in healtlh communications is to update the level of skills and knowledge of health practitioners-physicians, nurses, and auxiliary medical personnel. The symposium, in which experts are brought together with persons who feel a need to increase their information and capabilities, has been a major means of attempting to accomplish this task. The questions that have not been answered satisfactorily are the usefulness of this training method and how to improve it. As a first step in gauging the effectiveness of the symposium as a training method, we conducted a followup evaluation of a 3-day symposium on the care of the epileptic presented by Jefferson Medical College and Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg on May 27-29, 1965. The symposium was sponsored jointly by the Neurological and Sensory Disease Service Program, Public Health Service, Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Epilepsy Association of America, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. The followup study was conducted by the Epilepsy Foundation to aid in planning similar future symposia. This evaluation encompasses the backgrounds of participants, the symposium's values and benefits to their practices, criticisms of content and presentation, and recommendations for improving future symposia. Nineteen presentations by medical professors and specialists were planned to provide a comprehensive covera,ge of epilepsy. Topics ranged through definition of the problem of epilepsy, classification of seizures, diagnosis and treatment, and information on sources of community aid to the patient and his family. The evaluation, however, covered only 18 of the 19 presentations since the session on trauma and epilepsy was inadvertently omitted from the followup questionnaire. A printed questionnaire was mailed a week after the close of the symposium to the 145 people who had preregistered. The questionnaire requested quantitative ratings of statements regarding presentation of the symposium and the separate lectures, as well a,s posing open-ended questions concerning points of value and recommendations for improvements. Two sets of followup letters were sent to those not responding, with a final total response of 98. Of these, 86 actually participated in the symposium, approximately two-thirds of the estimated attendance. No record of actual registrants was kept. However, approximately 130 sets of materials were passed out at the registration desk. Dr. Schlesinger is research consultant for the Epilepsy Foundation and associate research professor of psychology at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Mr. Feil is a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy at Catholic University in Washington. Mr. Sukofj is the Foundation's national director of informa.tion and education.

THE TOWN-GOWN SYNDROME: PATHOLOGY.

ONE OF MEDICINE'S most perplexing problems—a problem that has called forth hours of discussion and about which volumes have been written—is a subject well worth further examination. The AMA Council on Medical Education and Hospitals occupies a unique position in relation to this problem. The Council stands in close association with the practice of medicine; it was created by the practitioner, it is elected by the practitioner, it serves as a standing committee for the supervision of educational programs leading to a better practice of medicine. The Council, similarly, stands in close association with medical education; it was created to insure high educational standards, it is actively engaged in the constant appraisal of educational programs, and it is a vehicle for communication with medical educators. Uniquely, on a national level, the Council serves as the continuing liaison between medical practice and medical education, between practitioners and professors. The term town

Scientific conferences of physicians of tbc institutions in Kazan

During the past period, the Conferences have expanded their work by involving practical city physicians seconded to the Institute for advanced medical training, and professors and lecturers of both the University and the Institute. Of the greatest interest are the works of the Conference on the study of tuberculosis vaccination according to Calmette'y and Langer'y, as well as a number of questions of the clinic of tbc and its control.

Science and Empiricism

THIS booklet contains a strange medley of fact and fiction, though apparently written with a good motive, for in his preface the author acknowledges the “splendid efforts of our scientists and medical professors,” and deplores “the neglect of hospitals and laboratories.” In section i. the author discourses on biology and Weismannism; in section ii. on pathology, with special reference to cancer and its cure, in which we are exhorted “in the place of fiction to substitute truth. Instead of holding to the absurd principle that the red corpuscles are the bearers of oxygen, let us in the future build upon the more scientific principle that oxygen is the bearer of the red corpuscles.” Cancer is easily explained. “Super ficial cancer is a disease of the blood tissues and is only dangerous is so far as it affects the tissues or envelope of life. Plasmic cancer, however, is a disease of the oxygen or vital ground, that is to say, of the white corpuscles or physical unity of life, and as such it goes deeper than the tissues.” The seven last pages are devoted to sections on theology, education, and government, but what they are all about we really are not quite sure!

Review Experiments on the Production of Animal Heat by Respiration. An Inaugural Dissertation, read and defended at the Public Examination, before the Rev. President and the Medical Professors of Harvard University, August 20, 1813 . By Enoch Hale, Jan. M. D. Boston, Published by Cummings & Hilliard, No. 1, Cornhill. Cambridge.....Hilliard & Metcalf, 1813.

Review Experiments on the Production of Animal Heat by Respiration. An Inaugural Dissertation, read and defended at the Public Examination, before the Rev. President and the Medical Professors of Harvard University, August 20, 1813 . By Enoch Hale, Jan. M. D. Boston, Published by Cummings & Hilliard, No. 1, Cornhill. Cambridge.....Hilliard & Metcalf, 1813.

Review A Dissertation on the proximate cause of Inflammation, with an attempt to establish a rational plan of cure . Submitted to the examination of John Andrews, D. D. Provost, the Trustees, and Medical Professors of the University of Pennsylvania, on the twenty fifth of April, 1811. For the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. By Alexander H. Stevens, A. M.

Review A Dissertation on the proximate cause of Inflammation, with an attempt to establish a rational plan of cure . Submitted to the examination of John Andrews, D. D. Provost, the Trustees, and Medical Professors of the University of Pennsylvania, on the twenty fifth of April, 1811. For the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. By Alexander H. Stevens, A. M.