Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Early Days
- Chapter 2 Washington Heights
- Chapter 3 Speyer School for Gifted Children
- Chapter 4 New York University at University Heights
- Chapter 5 To Each His Farthest Star–A Medical Student at Rochester: 1929–1934
- Chapter 6 Duke University Hospital and Its Medical School, 1934–1935
- Chapter 7 Yale Medical School, 1935–1936
- Chapter 8 Return to Duke, 1936-1937
- Chapter 9 You Can Go Home Again
- Chapter 10 My One and Only Wife
- Chapter 11 The Bronx Is the Graveyard for Specialists, 1937
- Chapter 12 The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1937 — The First of Its Kind
- Chapter 13 Pearl Harbor and World War II
- Chapter 14 Valley Forge General Hospital, 1942–1945
- Chapter 15 Tinian, 1945
- Chapter 16 Saipan, 1945–1946
- Chapter 17 Return to Columbia-Presbyterian, 1946
- Chapter 18 The Changing of the Guard at the Medical Center
- Chapter 19 An Internist-Diagnostician Rebuilds His Practice
- Chapter 20 The Upjohn Grand Rounds
- Chapter 21 The Iceman Cometh to Park Avenue
- Chapter 22 Songs My Patients Taught Me
- Chapter 23 Mr. J. Peter Grace, Chairman of W. R. Grace and Company
- Chapter 24 Birth of the Upjohn Gastrointestinal Service
- Chapter 25 Roosevelt Hospital, 1962–1965
- Chapter 26 Consultant and Physician to President Herbert C. Hoover
- Chapter 27 Problems at Roosevelt Hospital: The Bête Noir of Full Time
- Chapter 28 Internal Medicine as a Vocation (1897)
- Chapter 29 The Upjohn Service Moves to St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Chapter 30 Helicobacter Pylori and Peptic Ulcer: A Revolution in Gastroenterology
- Chapter 31 Plasmapheresis for Hepatic Coma at St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Epilogue
- Endmatter
Chapter 20 - The Upjohn Grand Rounds
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Early Days
- Chapter 2 Washington Heights
- Chapter 3 Speyer School for Gifted Children
- Chapter 4 New York University at University Heights
- Chapter 5 To Each His Farthest Star–A Medical Student at Rochester: 1929–1934
- Chapter 6 Duke University Hospital and Its Medical School, 1934–1935
- Chapter 7 Yale Medical School, 1935–1936
- Chapter 8 Return to Duke, 1936-1937
- Chapter 9 You Can Go Home Again
- Chapter 10 My One and Only Wife
- Chapter 11 The Bronx Is the Graveyard for Specialists, 1937
- Chapter 12 The Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 1937 — The First of Its Kind
- Chapter 13 Pearl Harbor and World War II
- Chapter 14 Valley Forge General Hospital, 1942–1945
- Chapter 15 Tinian, 1945
- Chapter 16 Saipan, 1945–1946
- Chapter 17 Return to Columbia-Presbyterian, 1946
- Chapter 18 The Changing of the Guard at the Medical Center
- Chapter 19 An Internist-Diagnostician Rebuilds His Practice
- Chapter 20 The Upjohn Grand Rounds
- Chapter 21 The Iceman Cometh to Park Avenue
- Chapter 22 Songs My Patients Taught Me
- Chapter 23 Mr. J. Peter Grace, Chairman of W. R. Grace and Company
- Chapter 24 Birth of the Upjohn Gastrointestinal Service
- Chapter 25 Roosevelt Hospital, 1962–1965
- Chapter 26 Consultant and Physician to President Herbert C. Hoover
- Chapter 27 Problems at Roosevelt Hospital: The Bête Noir of Full Time
- Chapter 28 Internal Medicine as a Vocation (1897)
- Chapter 29 The Upjohn Service Moves to St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Chapter 30 Helicobacter Pylori and Peptic Ulcer: A Revolution in Gastroenterology
- Chapter 31 Plasmapheresis for Hepatic Coma at St. Vincent’s Hospital
- Epilogue
- Endmatter
Summary
How would you like to teach 20,000 doctors in one evening on closed-circuit television?
—Steve Schwartz, 1955Early in 1955, while working in the Vanderbilt Clinic, I received a telephone call from a Mr. Stephen Schwartz, a total stranger, who introduced himself as a friend of Dr. Marianne Wolff, a former medical student of mine who was an outstanding young attending on the surgical pathology staff of P&S. Dr. Wolff had suggested that he get in touch with me regarding an important innovation in medical education. He quickly came to the point, asking, “How would you like to teach 20,000 doctors in one evening on closed-circuit television?” I was a little staggered by this proposal but managed to blurt out, “Tell me more.” He proceeded to outline his plan, saying that he had major financial support for the project. What he had in mind was using the format of Grand Rounds with case presentations of live patients before a panel of renowned experts under the guidance of a seasoned clinician-moderator. To enhance the suspense, the panelists would have no prior knowledge of the actual diagnosis of the patients being presented. The aim was to demonstrate to an audience of doctors how world-renowned clinicians go about diagnosing and managing patients they are seeing for the first time.
In 1955 television was in its infancy and subject to considerable censorship. To preserve privacy of the patients and panelists and to avoid upsetting some viewers, closed-circuit television would be employed on channels unavailable to the public at large. Mr. Schwartz assured me that nothing would be spared in bringing together the very best men and women in the world of medicine. There would be a minimal or no sales pitch for pharmaceuticals but the sponsor would, of course, be credited with supporting the program. Approval had already been obtained from a number of organizations, including the AMA and specialty societies. Steve's next question was, “What topic would you select for the first Grand Rounds?. My answer was “The Acute Abdomen,” a title I felt would bring in doctors in droves because of its universal appeal and practical significance for most practicing physicians and surgeons. Steve's next question was, “How would you go about getting this done?” My first proposal was to start with an ambulance ride in response to an emergency call to the home of a patient with severe abdominal pain. Having made many of these calls by automobile in my early days of practice in the Bronx and Manhattan, before the 911 system was installed, I knew from personal experience what it was like to be called out in the middle of the night to see strangers in distress and to have to make important decisions without laboratory or x-ray help, quickly and without a committee to advise me on what to do.
As Steve and I kept talking, I agreed that it would be well-nigh impossible in 1955 to get a mobile television crew involved
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- The Life of the ClinicianThe Autobiography of Michael Lepore, pp. 303 - 319Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2002