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July 1999
Volume 63 |
Number 7
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| Lewis H. Wright
Memorial Lecture: Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D., Recipient of the
National Book Award to Present 'Surgery as It Was on That
Day in 1846: Before and After' |
Kathryn E. McGoldrick,
M.D., Chair
Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lectureship Committee
Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology
The Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lecture, sponsored annually by the
Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, honors its namesake, an
indefatigable pioneer in American anesthesiology who was devoted
to enhancing the stature of anesthesiology as a clinical science
and medical specialty. A dynamic innovator, Dr. Wright was a founding
member of the Board of Trustees of the Wood Library-Museum and,
in later years, served as its President Emeritus. He was also
a founder of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
in 1955, working in close collaboration with Harold Griffith,
M.D.
This year's distinguished lecturer is Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D.,
Clinical Professor of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine
and acclaimed author. His lecture, titled "Surgery as It Was on
That Day in 1846: Before and After," will be delivered during
the ASA Annual Meeting on Tuesday, October 12, 1999, at 1 p.m.
in the Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.
Dr. "Shep" Nuland has a distinguished academic background, having
graduated summa cum laude from New York University, where he was
elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. In 1955, Dr. Nuland received
his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine and then completed
several years of surgical training at Yale, ultimately serving
as Chief Resident in Cardiothoracic as well as General Surgery.
In 1959, Dr. Nuland was Clinical Assistant to Lord Brock on the
Thoracic Unit of Guy's Hospital in London and was named Wellcome
Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Nuland has written brilliantly
and spoken eloquently on such important topics as the history
of medicine, the unique beauty and responsibility of the physician-patient
relationship, ethical dilemmas and surgical progress. His classic,
How We Die, was honored with the National Book Award in
1994 and was a finalist in the 1995 competition for the Pulitzer
Prize. This extraordinary volume has been read by millions of
medical professionals and lay people and has been translated into
more than one dozen languages. More significant, however, than
the quantitative appeal of this book is the qualitative nature
of the discussions and arguments it has evoked, stimulating us
to think about such fundamental issues as hospice care, human
dignity and, yes, the meaning of life and death.
Dr. Nuland had devoted several decades to illuminating the rich
and fascinating history of medicine. His book, The Origin of
Anaesthesia (Birmingham, Gryphon Editions, 1983), is an honored
volume in the Classics of Medicine Library. Doctors: The Biography
of Medicine (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1988) is a vibrant
book that brings historical icons to life: the innovative Rene
Laennec, the frail, flute-playing child whose keen sense of pitch
triggered the invention of the stethoscope, as well as some of
the would-be opportunists who attempted to vaingloriously profit
from the "discovery" of anesthesia.
Possessing extraordinary narrative skills and enviable breadth
and depth of knowledge, Dr. Nuland graces his writing and lecturing
with precision, insight and humor. After reading Dr. Nuland, one
vividly appreciates that the seeming conflict between the scientific
and humanistic aspects of medicine that we have struggled with
during the last decades is not a new concern; medicine has been
grappling with this conflict since the days of Hippocrates when
the Cnidan focus was on the disease, while the Hippocratics focused
on the patient. The Cnidan physicians were reductionists who emphasized
classification of disease processes and accurate diagnoses. The
Hippocratics, however, viewed diseases as events that occur within
the context of the life of the whole individual. By concentrating
their treatment not on specificity of disease but on the patient
and his or her environment and by enlisting the patient as a member
of his or her own therapeutic team, the Hippocratics achieved
successes that eluded their rivals from the competing school.
The triumphant story Dr. Nuland unfolds in Doctors describes
the eventual successful development of the Cnidan concept and
its ultimate rapprochement with the Hippocratic approach. Moreover,
the distinguished author believes that, in nurturing our patients,
we nurture ourselves and become better physicians for the exchange.
By ending the book with a chapter on organ transplantation, Dr.
Nuland seems to exemplify the hoped-for marriage of science and
humanism.
Winston Churchill once predicted that history would treat him
kindly because he himself would write it. When Shep Nuland, the
surgeon, tells the story of the progress of surgery, anesthesiologists
can be reassured that they, and their skills, are treated with
kindness and respect because he deeply appreciates that the evolution
of surgery would have been unimaginable without the development
of effective anesthesia.
A popular and engaging speaker who is sought after internationally,
Dr. Nuland will bring a scholar's skills and a thespian's talents
to his delivery of the Wright Memorial Lecture. His presentation
will be both educational and entertaining and will resonate with
the joy of discovery. We are indeed honored to have such an eminent
physician/surgeon/writer/historian/orator address the American
Society of Anesthesiologists.
Kathryn E. McGoldrick, M.D., is Professor
of Anesthesiology at Yale University School of Medicine and Medical
Director of Ambulatory Surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New
Haven, Connecticut. She is a Trustee of the Wood Library-Museum
of Anesthesiology.
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