future academic physicians
5
9 Training as Surgery Scholars
Many boys dream of becoming a
doctor and setting up private practice in
their own hometown.
And many fulfill that dream.
But others, like Duke's participants in
the Scholars in Academic Surgery Pro
gram, choose another important realm of
medicine-one in an academic communi-
These nine men, after six or seven
years of special preparation with the
Department of Surgery, will combine
careers in research and teaching with
clinical surgery practice.
Duke was one of several United States
colleges chosen to participate in a pilot
project to train these doctor-researchers
in 1963 under the auspices of the Public.
Health Service. The PHS Division of
General Medical Sciences extended and
expanded the grant in 1966.
The first graduate of the program will
finish in June. Two more students enter
each fall.
Following internship, candidates se
lected for the program are assigned one
year of junior assistant residency. During
this year the scholars participate in two-
month rotations through general and tho
racic surgery as well as the surgical spe
cialties of orthopaedics, neurosurgery,
plastic surgery, otolaryngology, urology
and anesthesia.
Four years of training in clinical sur
gery as senior residents and two years of
individual clinical investigation follow.
Each of the scholars receives his clinical
training as part of Duke's regular surgical
residency program. The two years of
research, however, are planned around
the individual's special interest areas.
"This program provides a new concen
tration in basic science as related to cli
nical research," Dr. David C. Sabiston,
Jr., chairman of the Department of Sur
gery, said. "There is an increasing need in
surgery for more advanced training in
fundamental research techniques."
Participants appreciate the research
feature.
"This new idea in medicine provides
facilities and learning experiences for a
select group of students specifically in
terested in combining research with cli
nical practice and teaching," Dr. Brack
G. Hattler, who will complete the pro
gram next summer, said.
Dr. Hattler, who is also finishing a
Ph. D. degree in immunology, commend
ed the close liaison with members of the
basic science staff. His research area has
been transplantation biology and he has
been working with Dr. D. Bernard Amos,
professor of immunology and professor
of experimental surgery.
Dr. Samuel A. Wells, whose field of
interest centers around tumor biology
research, enjoys the special laboratory
opportunities which are not ordinarily
stressed in a general surgical residency.
Dean’s Hour
Lectures Begin
An official of the Rockefeller Founda
tion, who served his medical residency at
Duke, presents the first of the fall series
of the Dean's Hour lectures Oct. 31.
Dr. Willoughby Lathem, presently de
puty director of the medical and natural
sciences division of the Rockefeller Foun
dation, will speak on "The International
Challenge of Medicine" at 5 p.m. in the
hospital amphitheater.
Dr. Lathem, originally from Atlanta,
attended Emory University there and re
ceived a B. S. degree in 1944. He earned
his M. D. degree from the same institu
tion in 1946.
He served his internship in internal
medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital in
Atlanta and then came to Duke as a
resident in the same field. He continued
his studies at Lawson Veterans' Adminis
tration Hospital in Chamblee, Ga., and
went to Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons in New York as
a postdoctorate research fellow.
A former captain in the U. S. Army
Medicaf Corps, Lathem has held positions
at both Yale and the University of Pitts
burgh schools of medicine. Prior to his
appointment with the Rockefeller Foun
dation, he worked with the National
Institutes of Health.
Lathem is the author of more than 35
articles and papers, many on kidney re
search.
program. Dr. Wells, in his fourth year of
scholar work, spent last year in clinical
investigation of cellular responses to vi
ruses at the Karolinska Institute in Stock
holm, Sweden.
The other seven scholars in training
are also undertaking research programs
suited to their interests. Several of the’
students are concentrating on physiologi
cal questions while others are interested
in medical biochemistry or aspects of
metabolism.
The nine scholars presently partici
pating in the program comprise just about
one-fourth of the surgical residents in
training currently at the Duke Depart
ment of Surgery.
Dr. Robert L. Fuson, a graduate of
the Indiana School of Medicine, is in his
sixth year of the program. Originally
from Indianapolis, he is doing research in
the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
A Duke University Medical School
graduate. Dr. William A. Gay, Jr., is in his
fifth year as a scholar. From Richmond,
Va., Dr. Gay's specialty is cardiac physio
logy and surgery.
With Dr. Wells in the fourth year of
the program is Dr. Walter G. Wolfe of
Corry, Pa, Dr, Wolfe, a graduate of Tem
ple University Medical School, is working
in the area of pulmonary physiology arvd
its medical implications. He spent last
year at the Cardiovascular Research Insti
tute at the University .of California work
ing with Dr. Julius Comroe, the noted
pulmonary physiologist.
The two third-year participants are Dr,
Robert W. Anderson of Chicago, III,, and
Dr. S. Kirby Orme of Saint Anthony, Ida
ho. Dr. Anderson, who received his M. D,
degree from Northwestern, is interested
in the metabolic aspects of shock and its
management. He is spending this year
working in the Department of Physiology
with Dr, Eugene Renkin on capillary
permeability. Dr. Orme's special field is
cellular metabolism and he is currently
in the Research Training Program and is
working with Dr, Rubin Bressler, pro
fessor of pharmacology.
Dr, Sewell H. Dixon, Jr., of Rome,
Ga., and Dr. James C. A. Fuchs of Coro
nado, Calif,, are the two new scholars
appointed in July, Both are interested in
careers in academic cardiovascular sur
gery.