The alumni of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) have made remarkable strides in medicine, academia, public health, and industry. In this they follow in the footsteps of Samuel Bard (1742–1821), a prominent early American physician and a founder of what would become VP&S. In The Caring Heirs of Doctor Samuel Bard, Peter Wortsman offers a selection of profiles of Columbia-educated doctors who have made a fundamental difference in the lives of others.
The physicians profiled in this book represent the complete spectrum of MDs. They have charted new fields of medicine, resolved long-standing biochemical mysteries, discovered the causes and cures of diseases, developed vaccines, pioneered surgical procedures, helped halt epidemics, and cared for imperiled populations. Some have run hospitals, medical schools, universities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, city health departments, and major pharmaceutical concerns. Others practiced at the White House, climbed mountains, or flew to outer space. Still others wrote pioneering papers, edited prestigious medical journals, and authored prize-winning books and best-selling novels. In each case, the clinical training, scientific thoroughness, and humanistic values inculcated at Columbia had a formative influence on their thinking and practice. In telling their stories, The Caring Heirs of Doctor Samuel Bard illustrates the importance of clinical rigor and humanistic caring in the practice of medicine and offers readers a rare insight into the heart and soul of American medicine at its best.
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Taking Doctors’ Histories, a Preface
- 1. A New Dean Digs in at Boston University School of Medicine, by Karen Antman ʼ74
- 2. A Champion of Health Equality at the Helm of the NYC Department of Health, by Mary T. Bassett ʼ79
- 3. New Jersey’s Health Care Crusader, by Stanley S. Bergen, Jr. ʼ55
- 4. A Nobel Laureate’s Lifelong Commitment to Curiosity, by Baruch Blumberg ʼ51
- 5. Babies’ Best Friend, by T. Berry Brazelton ʼ43D
- 6. Musings of a University President Emeritus, by Keith Brodie ʼ65
- 7. Promoting Respect for “Our Future Selves,” by Robert N. Butler ʼ53
- 8. A Neurosurgeon at the Helm of the AMA, by Peter Carmel MSD ʼ70
- 9. A Vitreoretinal Visionary, by Stanley Chang ʼ74
- 10. Protecting Imperiled Populations, by Davida Coady ʼ65
- 11. How Three P&S Alumni Bucked the Odds and Made It Big in Biotech, by Ron Cohen ʼ81, Paul Maddon MD ʼ88 MD PhD, and George Yancopoulos MD ʼ86, PhD ʼ87
- 12. An American Odyssey, by Robert Coles ʼ54
- 13. Medicine by the Book, by Robin B. Cook ʼ66
- 14. A Shared Life in Medicine, Canadian Style, by Richard ʼ55 and Sylvia Cruess ʼ55
- 15. Surgeon-Scientist Takes Knowledge to the Cutting Edge, by Patricia Donahoe ʼ64
- 16. Tuning-up the Engine of Public Health in the Motor City, by Abdul El-Sayed ʼ14
- 17. The Un-Retiring Dean of American Rheumatologists, by Ephraim P. Engleman ʼ37
- 18. From Student to Surgeon to University Trustee—a Columbia Journey, by Kenneth Forde ʼ59
- 19. From Endocrinology to Admissions, a Life in Medicine, by Andrew G. Frantz ʼ55
- 20. Practicing the “Art of the Possible,” by The Outgoing Director of the CDC Reflects on His Time at the Helm, by Thomas R. Frieden MD/MPH ʼ86
- 21. Medicine by Bench, Bedside, and Book, by Jerome Groopman ʼ76
- 22. A Pioneer in Adolescent Medicine Committed to Health and Well-being for All, by Karen Hein ʼ70
- 23. At Home in High Places, by Charles S. Houston ʼ39
- 24. An All-Star on the Team Against TB, by Michael Iseman ʼ65
- 25. Championing Intellectual Rigor and Risk at the American University of Beirut, by Fadlo R. Khuri ʼ89
- 26. Making Health Care Happen, a Committed Primary Care Practitioner in the Deep South, by Karen Kinsell ʼ93
- 27. Urologist, Historian, Collector, Sleuth, by John K. Lattimer ʼ38
- 28. Yes, There Is Balm in Gilead, by Margaret Morgan Lawrence ʼ40
- 29. A Doctor in the House—the White House, That Is, by Burton J. Lee, III ʼ56
- 30. Receptive to Receptors, by Robert J. Lefkowitz ʼ66
- 31. Adventures in Virology, by Jay Levy ʼ65
- 32. A Digital Pioneer at the National Library of Medicine, by Donald A.B. Lindberg ʼ58
- 33. Out of Anguish into Africa, by Martha M. MacGuffie ʼ49
- 34. Battling Invisibility—a Primary Care Clinician and Spokesperson for the Care of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgender People, by Harvey J. Makadon ʼ77
- 35. At the Cancer Command, by Paul Marks ʼ49
- 36. A Pivotal Player at P&S and Presbyterian Hospital Throws in the White Coat
- 37. A Surgeon in Space, by F. Story Musgrave ʼ64
- 38. A Military Neurologist on the Front Against Chemical Attack, by Col. Jonathan Newmark, MC, USAR ʼ78
- 39. It Takes Heart, by Suzanne Oparil ʼ65
- 40. An Educator Not Afraid to Stick His Neck Out, by Calvin H. Plimpton MSD ʼ51
- 41. Notes of a Pioneering Neurosurgeon, by J. Lawrence Pool MD ʼ32, MSD ʼ40
- 42. First Woman of Medicine, by Helen Ranney ʼ47
- 43. Medicine by Blue Pencil, by Arnold Relman ʼ46
- 44. A Doctor to the World, by Allan Rosenfield ʼ59
- 45. Kidneys are Color-blind, by Velma Scantlebury ʼ81
- 46. The Hands-On Surgeon-in-Chief of the Hospital for Special Surgery, by Thomas P. Sculco ʼ69
- 47. The Assistant Secretary for Health is a Doctor First and Foremost, by Eve Slater ʼ71
- 48. Rebel Doctor with a Cause, by Benjamin Spock ʼ29
- 49. A Veteran NIH Investigator Takes on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, by Stephen E. Straus ʼ72
- 50. A Pioneering African American Perinatologist Looks Back with Pride, by Yvonne Thornton MD ʼ73, MPH ʼ96
- 51. Merck’s MD at the Top, by P. Roy Vagelos ʼ54
- 52. Nobel Laureate at the NIH, by Harold Varmus ʼ66
- 53.
Advocate for Women’s Health, by Lila Wallis ʼ51
- 54. A Matter of Heart, by Clyde Y. C. Wu ʼ56
- 55. The Scientific Wunderkind of Biotech Makes Proteins Do the Right Thing, by George D. Yancopoulos PhD ʼ86, MD’87
- Author’s Bio
- Photo Credits