CENTER
MEDICAL
UNIVERSITY
DUKE
VOL. 11, NO. 1
FEHKIJARY, 1964
DURIIAM, N. C.
i
Tnese senior staff members, pictured in front of the PDC door on January 15, 1964,
were members of the original staff of the Private Diagnostic Clinic when it opened
September 15, 1931. Front row, left to right: Dr. David T. Smith, Dr. Edwin P. Alyea,
Dr. Watt W. Eagle, Dr. Julian M. Ruffin, Dr. Oscar Hansen-Priiss; second row: Dr. E. L.
Persons, Dr. Bayard Carter, Dr. Clarence Gardner, Dr. Deryl Hart, Dr. Robert Reeves.
This group represents an aggregate of more than 320 years’ service to Duke Medical Center.
Duke photo by Sparks
PDC—
Happy Partiiei’sliip in Med
ical Practicc and Edu;alioii
The ability to grow with imagina
tion, with direction and pur])Ose, and
in resi)onse to the needs of the eoin-
nuiiiity and the University, has char
acterized tlie Private Diagnostic
Clinic throughout its thirty odd years
of existence. So closely interwoven
is the growth of the PDC and Duke
^Medical Center that Dr. Deryl Hart
has described the develo])ment of
Duke ^Medical School as a “coopera
tive endeavor between the University
and the private clinics.” lie observes
that tlie clinics “which originated in
tlie minds of the staff, were accepted
with entiiusiasm by the University.”
The Private Diagnostic (Uinic of
19G4 lists s])ecialties that run the ai-
])habetical gamut from Allergy to
Trology. It lias a jirofessional staff
of 148. This staff can ex])cet 85 to !•()
thousand i)atient visits a yeai’, and of
tliese about 12,()()() will be n(>w pa
tients. The Clinic is se]>arated, for
administrative purposes, into two di
visions: iledical which includes the
clinical dei)artmeiits of .Medicine, Pe
diatrics, and Psychiatry; and Surgi
cal including Surgery and its special
ties, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Kach division is uudcf the direction
of a business manager who is res])on-
sible to the apj)ro])riate department
chairmen. Since 1938 Mr. Clarence
(’obb has served as business manager
of the j\Iedical Division. lie suc-
(ieeded Mr. William F. Fj-anck, tlu>
original ai)pointee. With the death
in 19!)8 of Mr. Edward S. PaT>er, first
managei- of the Surgical Division,
ill'. Koy Crenshaw succeeded to the
])ost. From the patient’s point of
view, there is no clearcut evidence of
a division. A patient whose ])rimary
])roblem is of a medical nature starts
out in the Mtulical Division and, while
he may see members of the surgical
staff' as well, the liusiness arrange
ments will be handled by the ]\ledical
Husiness Office, unless he is trans
ferred to a member of the surgical
staff of surgery.
A superior level of patient care is
a prime objective of the Private
Diagnostic (^linic. Equally signifi-
('ant is the desire to foster an ade-
(jiiate clinical staff in deiitli for the
puf[)ose of teaching and clinical rc'-
search and to provide for young clini
cians an important segment of train
ing for their future wlietlier tliat be
in academic medicine, clinical re
search or specialized private ])ractice.
Duke jMedical School and llos])ital
opened in 19:?() during the depression.
It soon became clear that with Uni
versity income falling, substantial in
come from private ]>ractice would be
essential if an adecpiate clinical staff
was to be develoj)cd. The idea of
forming a diagnostic clinic originated
with Dr. Hart. Tt was strongly suji-
(Continiied on imge 2)