Audiovisual Education Links Medical IT, M, and Photography
“Division of Audiovisual Edu
cation, Art and Photography
... Enter Without Knocking ...
May I help you! ’ ’ Such was the
unorthodox telephone greeting
given several months ago by a
secretary trying to remember
the new and lengthy title of her
division by reading it from the
door. (Needless to say, she soon
selected another method.)
Title change, however, was
only a small part of the major
change that occurred last fall
with the creation of the new Di
vision of Audiovisual Education.
Prompted by increasing de
mands for medical art, medical
photography, and the services of
the Medical School’s television
facilities, the Medical Center ad
ministration decided that the
time had come to coordinate the
efforts of these services and to
insure their necessary expansion
by incorporating them into one
division, to be called the Division
of Audiovisual Education.
Sam A. Agnello, who has been
with the School of Medicine since
1941 and coordinator of medical
television since 1964, was ap
pointed director of the new di
vision and asked to continue as
coordinator of the Medical Tele
vision Section.
The two other sections incor
porated into the new division
were those of Medical Art and
Medical Photography. Professor
Elon II. Clark, who has worked
with medical art and illustration
at Duke since 1934, was ap
pointed coordinator of the Medi
cal Art Section. A new man,
Wayne C. Williams, formerly
director of the Department of
Medical Illustration at the Uni
versity of Kentucky Medical
Center, was selected to be coordi
nator of the Medical Photogra
phy Section.
In addition to maintaining
the services rendered in the past,
it is hoped that the three sections
will be able to expand. “We are
trying to broaden our scope, for
we should be involved in any
thing that requires photography,
television, or art,” said Mr. Ag
nello. “At no point in the ex
pansion, however, do we want to
divorce the Division’s services
from either research or patient
care.”
The Division hopes to be able
to serve the faculty more effec
tively than in the past. Mr. Ag
nello noted that in the past eacli
faculty member decided wliat he
needed for audiovisual aid, but
today his staff is trying to help
the faculty members decide what
can be used to their best advan
tage. “Teachers around here are
extremely busy and don’t have
the time to dig around and find
this information,” emphasized
Mr. Agnello. “We are now in a
position to do it for them.”
As a matter of course, the Di
vision will continue to evaluate
the uses of audiovisual materials
and to engage in research re
garding the materials them
selves.
Growth is imminent for the
new Division. By 1973 it is ex
pected to have increased in size
from 20 employees to 60 and to
be housed in the new communi
cations building scheduled for
completion in that year.
The three sections of the Di
vision of Audiovisual Education
are now often found working
together on projects. For ex
ample, at any given medical staff
conference the video tape used
would be produced by Medical
Television, with slides prepared
by Medical Photography and
charts and graphs prepared by
Medical Art.
“We are relatively unique,”
said Mr. Agnello. “There are
very few departments similar to
ours ... the better known being
at M.C.V., Kansas, Temple, and
two medical centers in Cali
fornia. You could certainly say
that we are in a pioneering posi
tion.”
Seen in the future of the Divi
sion are: a training program for
those interested in medical tele
vision ; increased use of the Pros-
theses Lab (in Medical Art) for
the construction of 3-D models
and new prosthetic devices; a
section of audiovisual utilization
that would serve as a library for
audiovisual aids; and expanded
use of video tapes and motion
picture films.
Medicine and
Engineering
Join Together
A division of biomedical engi
neering is being established at
Duke to educate specialists who
will link the fields of medicine
and engineering at the applied
and basic levels.
Students in the program will
be prepared for a wide range of
20th century undertakings such
as cardiovascular research, de
velopment of artificial organs
for the human body, and con
ditioning for wide-scale space
explorations.
The program will be sup
ported by the Schools of Engi
neering and Medicine. Their ef
forts will be directed toward
training people for a new pro
fession which requires more
knowledge about medicine than
is possessed by the average engi
neer and more knowledge in en
gineering than is possessed by
the average doctor.
The Division of Biomedical
Engineering will begin its func
tion as part of the School of En
gineering at the beginning of
the 1967-68 academic year. Dr.
Theo Pilkington, who holds the
joint appointment of associate
professor of biomedical engineer
ing and electrical engineering,
will head the Division.
The undergraduate program
will prepare the student for fur
ther specialization in biomedical
engineering graduate work or
for medical school.
The Division’s graduate pro
gram requires extensive course
work in engineering and biology,
as well as studies in mathematics
and phj’sics. Upon completion of
the graduate program, the bio
medical engineer should be pre
pared for challenges in any
number of related careers. For
instance, the program will tie in
closely with research in hyper
baric medicine and oceanogra
phy, both of which have given
Duke distinctive reputations in
international circles.
Announcement of the new di
vision was made in April by Dr.
William G. Anlyan, dean of the
School of Medicine, and Dr. J.
L. Meriam, dean of the School of
Engineering.
Mad Man
A man was bitten by a dog
and sometime later was told
by his doctor that he had
rabies and could be in danger
of losing his life.
After a few moments of
stunned silence, the man
calmly asked the doctor for
some stationery, took out his
pen, and started writing.
“Xo need to write your
will now; you will have
plenty of time to settle
matters of that nature later,”
advised the doctor.
“Oh, it’s not my will,” re
plied the man. “It’s a list of
the people I’m going to bite.”
The director of the new Division of Audiovisual Education, Sam A. Agnello, is
shown flanked by the Division’s two coordinators, professor Elon H. Clark (at
left), coordinator of the Medical Art Section, and Wayne 0. Williams, coordi
nator of the Medical Photography Section.
INTERCOM - 6
VOL. 14 NO. 1/1967