| |
|
|
State-of-the-art surgery
Dr. Robert Udelsman’s concerns about departmental fiscal efficiencies
reminded me of a study that indicated hospital business offices had the
most timely and comprehensive details about a patient’s hospital
stay. Every chargeable service and material used (or at times anticipated)
was immediately transmitted to the hospital business office. Business
office records, with professional input, are excellent resources for up-to-the-minute
patient information. Dr. Udelsman may be assured that the hospital business
office is right there in the OR with him.
A.Z. Hamburg, M.P.H. ’54
Philadelphia
I’ve been reading Yale Medicine for a good many years, but
never once do I recall this publication ever telling us that Yale’s
Department of Surgery was “in the doldrums.”
Quite the contrary. The articles always gave us the impression of a state-of-the-art
department filled with talented, dedicated people. Who was chair of the
surgical department when Yale was “in the doldrums?” I’m
sure he’d have a few words on that.
John Barchilon, M.D. ’65
Sherman Oaks, Calif.
A thing of beauty
I am on the list of those who receive Yale Medicine. I can’t
tell you how much I enjoy this publication. Each page is an artistic delight
and tells the story with simplicity and dignity.
Ian Mininberg, MUS ’34
New Haven
As we went to press
At press time we received the sad news that Albert J. Solnit, M.D.,
HS ’52, died following an automobile accident in Bethlehem,
Conn. Solnit and his wife, Martha, were en route to their weekend
home in Lakeville when the accident occurred on June 21. Martha
Solnit was recuperating in Waterbury Hospital following the crash.
Solnit, 82, came to Yale in 1948 as a resident in general psychiatry
and was the first child psychiatry resident from 1950 to 1952. He
served as the third director of the Child Study Center from 1966
to 1983, when he was succeeded by Donald J. Cohen, M.D. ’66.
Cohen died last October 2 of melanoma. A collaborator of Anna Freud,
Solnit was a Sterling Professor at Yale and, from 1991 to 2000,
Connecticut’s commissioner of mental health and addiction services.
“He was a professional father throughout my career,” said
John Schowalter, M.D., the Albert J. Solnit Professor of Child Psychiatry.
“As a mentor, he was always accessible and combined both a
wise brain and a moral backbone.”
Alan E. Kazdin, Ph.D., who became the center’s fifth director
in April, called Solnit’s death “a huge loss for the Child
Study Center, for the faculty and staff, and for children everywhere.
“Al Solnit was a monumental figure in child psychiatry, a pioneer,”
said Kazdin. “He had enormous impact on individuals because
of his acumen as a clinician, and at the same time he had a major
influence on the profession throughout the world.”
|
|
|
|
| |
Cartoon: Sidney Harris
|
|
From the Editor:
Hand-eye coordination
It’s been a humbling spring here at Yale Medicine headquarters.
Just when we thought we had come up with the perfect design for the magazine,
a number of letters and comments pointed out a small flaw in our master
plan. A tiny flaw. A miniscule yet serious flaw, if one takes one’s
mail to heart, as we do. “Yale Medicine is attractive in layout.
I am very interested in reading it but am unable to do so,” Thomas
L. Buckey, M.D. ’43 Dec., wrote. “The design and type selection
must have been made by a very young person and amounts to elder abuse.”
He was only half joking.
I phoned Dr. Buckey as this issue was in layout stage to assure him that
none of us on the magazine’s staff is a day under 40, that many of
us have failing eyesight and that we have come to agree that the type
shrank a little too much during Yale Medicine’s redesign last
autumn. Readers will notice a significant increase in the type size in
this issue, and our page format is returning to a full 8.5-by-11 inches
to accommodate the change. The Summer issue is also a bit lighter than
our other three, down to 32 pages from our normal 48 or more, as is befitting
the season. The Autumn 2002 issue, with a beefed-up alumni section and
complete reunion coverage, will return to full strength.
This edition’s main feature story continues our “Letter from
…” series with a narrative by second-year medicine resident
Monique Tello, M.D., from her experience working in a pediatric burn unit
in Guatemala City. Medicine is increasingly crossing borders geographic,
political and cultural, and given Yale’s international focus at the
start of its fourth century, the “Letter from …” articles
have been enormously popular. If you have such a story, please share it
with us.
Meanwhile we’ll keep our eyes on the big picture as well as the fine
print, responding to your interests and concerns as alumni. “No,
you don’t have to send a large-print edition—just a normal-size
print one,” Dr. Buckey wrote.
Done.
Michael Fitzsousa
michael.fitzsousa@yale.edu
|
|
|
