Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
VOL. 25, NO. 42
OCT. 20, 1978
DURHAM, N.C.
SISTERLY H£J1P—First-year nursing student Susan Emerich (left) helps
her older sister Cathy adjust her new nursing cap. Cathy Emerich is a
junior in the School of Nursing and received her cap at ceremonies in
September. Both Emerichs live in Hanes House. Four other nursing
students have younger sisters who entered the nursing school this year
as first-year students. The Emerich are from Doylestown, Pa. (Photo by
Parker Herring)
Knowledge explosion led to curriculum change
The first 10 years of Duke's experience
with a radically redesigned curriculum for
its school of medicine is the subject of a
book just published by Duke University
Press.
The book, entitled “Undergraduate
Medical Education and the Elective
System," is a series of articles by 34
current or former medical center faculty
members describing how^ the new
curriculum came into being and how it
worked in training physicians during the
years from 1966 to 1975.
Dr. James F. Gifford Jr., associate
professor of community and family
medicine, served as editor for the 243-
page volume.
Supervising editors were Dr. William
G. Anlyan, vice president for health
affairs. Dr. Ewald W. Busse, dean of
medical and allied health education, and
Busse's predecessor, the late Thomas D.
Kinney, who also was professor and
chairman of pathology from 1960 to
1975.
Pressures forced reevaluation
In his preface, Gifford explains that for
more than 50 years, medical education in
the United States consisted of two years
of instruction in basic medical sciences,
followed by two years of clinical
instruction in hospitals.
"In the 1960s, however, a number of
pressures combined to force many
schools to reevaluate their curricula," he
writes.
Expansion of biomedical knowledge,
extension of specialty training, demands
by students for programs tailored to their
individual interests and society's desire
that physicians be drawn from more
diverse backgrounds all challenged the
traditionally rigid educational format.
"The Duke University School of
Medicine offered the first new model of
(Continued on page 4)
Five join sisters
in nursing school
By Parker Herring
There are advantages and disadvan
tages to enrolling in a school where a
brother or sister is already a student.
Five first-year nursing students
weighed the pros and cons of attending
the same nursing school as their older
sister and decided that Duke's nursing
school was their choice.
"It's kind of nice having my older sister
around," Susan Emerich, an 18-year-old
first-year student from Doylestown, Pa.,
said. "But sometimes I wish she wasn't
here. You know you really don't want to
have someone watching over you."
Susan Emerich's sister, Cathy, is a
junior nursing student.
Her own decision
"I made my own decision about coming
here," the younger Emerich said. "I came
down to visit Cathy and liked the campus
and the curriculum."
Even though the Emerich sisters are
only a floor apart in Hanes House, the
nursing students dorm, they don't see
each other very often.
"But it is nice to be able to walk down a
floor and see her if I want," Susan
Emerich said.
"It's kind of fun having her here," her
older sister said. "It makes it more of a
family thing."
Cathy Emerich said she didn't try to
influence her younger sister to come to
Duke.
"She asked me questions about the
nursing school and 1 answered them," she
said. "But I tried not to say anything that
would influence her."
For the older Emerich, having her
younger sister entering nursing school
brings back some memories.
"I see her going through the same kinds
of things I went through," she said.
(Continued on page 1)
Bloodletting implements featured
in medical history exhibit
"In the 1960s...a number of pressures combined to force many
schools to reevaluate their curricula. The Duke University School of
Medicine offered the first new model of medical education
responsive to these pressures for change."
By David Williamson
Those who long for the good old days of
the 19th Century and before may have
second thoughts after viewing two
exhibits of medical artifacts now on
display in the Medical Center Library.
The exhibits, located in the lower lobby
of the Seeley G. Mudd Building adjacent
to the Trent Room, feature a variety of
tools that were used for bloodletting,'
tooth extractions and surgery before
modern painkilling drugs were
developed.
Terry Cavanagh, curator of the
library's historical collection, said one of
the exhibits includes antiques donated by
Mrs. Emil C. Beyer. Mrs. Beyer collected
the objects over many years with her late
husband who was a physician in
Morehead City, N.C.
The other display, which examines the
ancient practice of bUwdletting, is
primarily composed of items loaned by
Dr. John H. Monroe, a Winston-Salem
obstetrician.
From 1826
"A number of polished rosewood or
mahogany family medicine chests are the
most striking pieces in the Beyer
Collection," Cavanagh said.
The most complete chest dates from
around 1826.
"When closed, it forms a handsome box
that could be placed inoffensively even in
an elegantly furnished room," he said.
"Opened it becomes an efficient little
dispensary with labelled bottles of 10 or
more drugs, including a few in a secret
compartment behind a sliding panel."
Drawers contain small mortars and
pestles, balances and weights, spatulas,
(Continued on page 3)