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VOLUME 20, NUMBER 26
JUNE 29. 1973
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Dr, Aniyan Gets an Inside View
When the Doctor Becomes a Patient at Duke
It’s Official - Duke Named
A National Cancer Center
Everybody felt certain it was going to
happen, but it was still good news when
Dr. Frank Rauscher stood before a
Congressional subcommittee in
Washington last week and made it
official.
Rauscher, director of the National
Cancer Institute (NCI), announced that
Duke and seven other institutions had
been named as sites for Comprehensive
Cancer Centers.
At the time of the announcement, Dr.
William Shingleton, director of the center
here, was just outside Washington in
Bethesda, Md., attending a meeting of the
National Cancer Advisory Board.
“The Duke University Medical
Center," Shingleton said, “is indeed
fortunate in being named a
Comprehensive Cancer Center, for this
provides a challenge and an opportunity
for us to help in finding a solution to the
cancer problem."
Duke's vice president for health
affairs. Dr. William G. Aniyan, expressed
pleasure at Duke's being chosen and said,
"This is in keeping with our long-term
major endeavor in the care of cancer
patients and in research in cancer."
In June of 1972 the NCI awarded
Duke a grant of $5.4 million to construct
a basic cancer research facility and an
isolation laboratory. The main structure,
to be known as the Edwin L. Jones
Cancer Research Building, and the
laboratory will be built on Research
Drive, with construction expected to
begin later this year.
In his announcement last week,
Rauscher also said Duke will receive a
core support grant of $600,000 to help
finance the center's operation during its
first year.
Another multi-million dollar grant, to
help finance construction of a clinical
cancer center, is pending with the
government.
Federal funds are made available on a
matching basis, with Duke required to
provide 25 per cent of the project costs.
The other seven institutions designated
as sites for centers were;
Children's Cancer Research
Foundation, Boston; Johns Hopkins
Medical Institutions, Baltimore;
University of Alabama School of
Medicine, Birmingham; University of
Wisconsin Medical Center, Madison; Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
affiliated with the University of
Washington, Seattle; University of
(Continued on page 3)
How does it feel to be a doctor, a
surgeon who has performed thousands of
operations on other people, who
suddenly finds himself in the reverse
role—the surgical patient instead of the
surgeon?
It can be a revealing experience.
And it was, last week and the week
before, for Dr. William G. Aniyan, Duke's
vice president for health affairs.
For one thing, "Being a patient is
something every doctor should
experience sometime," Aniyan said.
For another, it gives the physician a
clearer and more complete picture of the
entire patient-care process.
But perhaps more important for
someone in A" y'an's position as the
person u'ci\nately responsible for the
total ad .iinistiation of the Duke Medical
Center, it gave him the opportunity to
evaluate patient care and observe some of
its pluses and minuses.
Admittedly, the "boss" could expect
top-level care and consideration, but he
said, "Every patient who comes to Duke
should expect, and receive, nothing less
than that."
On Monday, June 11, Aniyan began
experiencing pain which was diagnosed as
resulting from a kidney stone. He went
into the hospital that afternoon. On
Thursday and Friday he had a
commitment to go to Chicago to deliver a
pre-commencement banquet address and
receive an honorary Doctor of Science
degree at the Rush Medical College.
He decided to go, admitting now that
"it was probably very foolish," and
suffered another attack at the Thursday
night banquet. He managed to get on a
plane early Friday morning, returned to
Duke Hospital and underwent surgery for
removal of the stone Monday morning,
June 18. He was back in his office the
next morning.
Here are some of the doctor-patient's
observations about Duke Hospital:
"By and large, the things that
impressed me were the high-caliber of
personnel in nursing service on all three
shifts —their dedication, their
high-motivation, their friendliness. There
seemed to be an esprit de corps and
excellent team spirit.
"And one thing I'd like to emphasize is
that just because I happened to be on
Reed Ward doesn't mean that this is only
present on Reed, because 1 know from
other patients' reactions and my own
interactions with the staffs of other wards
that this is common on all other wards.
"I was also impressed by the Urology
Service and the crew from top to bottom,
not only the staff itself but also the clinic
staff. I was impressed by the fact that
they were going full steam on Saturday
morning and providing patient care
services.
"I've often wondered if we shouldn't
be functioning seven days a week or as
close to it as possible. The fact that I was
in an acute pain situation and something
could be done about it—not just on a
crash emergency basis but as part of a
routine operation on a Saturday
morning—was impressive.
"I was equally impressed with the
whole business of being a patient going
through the operating room, all the way
from the anesthetic pre-medication on
the ward, to the transportation, to the
operating room.
"One innovation I wasn't aware of
that I think is a major step forward is to
have a nursing service person at the
elevator doors on the fourth floor as a
screen to make sure that I was the right
patient for the right procedure at the
right time, making all the necessary last
checks before I was admitted to the OR
suite.
"Once in the OR suite I think the
management by the nursing service
personnel, the staff, the anesthesiologists
and everybody was so that if one had to
have an operatibn, they made jt as
comfortable as possible.
"I have absolutely no recollection of
falling asleep until I woke up in the
recovery room and asked, 'When are we
going to get the show on the road?'
"It was interesting that on Sunday
night, having never been a surgical patient
myself before, I was at complete peace of
mind knowing that the absolutely best
institution and the best people were going
to be taking care of me, and what else
could you ask for?
"That was perhaps the single most
important factor giving me peace of
mind. I also recall that when the pain
struck me in Chicago, all I was hoping for
was to make it back to Duke Hospital.
With nothing negative meant about
Chicago and its magnificent hospitals,
there was just nowhere else I wanted to
be sick.
"Once the anesthetic wore off, I was
(Continued on page 3)
Independence Day
Holiday
Wednesday, July 4