contents
Max Bartlett, MD ’54
Daniel H. Bessesen, MD ’82
Alan Best, Student Rep for Class of 2005
J. J. Cohen, MD, PhD, Honorary
Ryan Downey, Student Rep for Class of 2006
David A. Dreitlein, MD ’98
Larry S. Fisher, MD ’70
Matthew B. Goodwin, MD ’87, President
David S. Gordon, MD ’67
Gerald M. Hickman, MD ’65
Craig Hogan, Student Rep for Class of 2006
Srinivas Iyengar, MD, ’04
Richard Krugman, MD, Dean, Ex Officio
Chris May, Student Rep for Class of 2007
Gerald B. Merenstein, MD, Honorary
David M. Mills, MD ’57
Christine A. Petersen, MD ’71
Robert Rymer, MD ’68
Angelo Sambunaris, MD ’87
Douglas C. Scott, MD ’81
Gina Soriya, Student Rep for Class of 2005
Ahmed Stowers, MD ’88
Jessica Tennant, Student Rep for Class of 2008
Arthur Waldbaum, MD, ’74
Julie Zimbelman, MD ’94
Robert Zucherman, MD ’55
Dean, School of Medicine
Richard D. Krugman, MD
Director of Alumni Relations
Wende Reoch
Art Director
Lorie Dehart
Photography
Casey A. Cass
Mike Cobb
Mark Groth, Inside Cover
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CU Medicine Today is published two times a year for
alumni of the University of Colorado School of
Medicine. Contributions are encouraged.
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The views and opinions expressed in this
publication are not necessarily those of the
University of Colorado School of Medicine
or the CU Medical Alumni Association.
The University of Colorado is committed to equal
employment opportunity and affirmative action.
CU Medicine
Spring 2005
Dean’s Message
CU in the News
2
4
Leadership Changes, Class Size May Increase,
After Hours Callers, and More
Alumni Profile
8
Jack Comstock, MD: A Survivor’s Story
POW Survivors
Doctors at War
Faculty Profile
12
14
16
Colleen Conry, MD
Bench to Bedside
18
New Cooling Device Saves Lives
Legislative Outlook
21
Following Health Care Policy at the Capitol
Fitzsimons Update
22
Research Complex Officially Opens
CME Calendar
President’s Message
Class Notes
24
25
26
Alumni Updates and Obituaries
Student Column
30
A Summer in Chilé
Thank You Alumni
Match Day
New Beginnings for the Class of 2005
32
33
C O N T E N T S
CU Medical
Alumni Association
Board of Directors
1
dean’s message
DEAN’S MESSAGE
2
Perspectives
T
There are many changes afoot at the University of Colorado. As you may know, University of
Colorado President Elizabeth Hoffman has announced that she will step down at the end of the
academic year. At the School of Medicine, we have many things
for which to be thankful to President Hoffman. Since I joined
the faculty 32 years ago, I have seen a lot of presidents of the
university. In my opinion, during her first four years, Betsy
combined the academic values of Arnold Weber, the energy and
outreach skills of Gordon Gee and the political acumen of John
Buechner into one person. The events of the last year have
clearly been wearing and have taken their toll.
In addition, there are a lot of changes going on in the upper
levels of administration on campus at the moment. The search is
underway for a new Chancellor of the combined University of
Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center campus. Jim
Shore announced his plan to step down no later than October 31,
2005 after six years on the job. Dennis Brimhall, CEO of the
University of Colorado Hospital, announced his resignation in February to be effective June 1,
2005. Dennis has been in the job for 17 years, and has been the only CEO the hospital has had
since it separated from the Health Sciences Center in 1991. A search is underway for his position
as well.
What is the impact of so many vacancies in the upper levels of our University and Health
Sciences Center administration? Only the future will tell. Yet, as I’ve said time and time again, it
is the students, the faculty and the School’s alumni and supporters that make the institution.
Given the onslaught of media coverage about the issues in Boulder, perhaps it is time for a fresh
start to reinvigorate the University of Colorado. It’s easy for us to draw the distinction between
what goes on here on the Health Sciences Center campus and Boulder’s football and drinking
issues, but for the general public, the reality is that our reputation has undoubtedly been affected
by everything that is swirling in Boulder.
That’s why it’s so critical for us at the School of Medicine and for our supporters to focus on the
impact we have every day rather than the latest headline in the newspaper. We must continue to
build bridges to the community. We must develop new public/private partnerships that leverage
the knowledge and innovation of our faculty.
Most importantly, we must all stand up for our reputation. Let us not forget that out of all
public medical schools, the University of Colorado School of Medicine is currently ranked 4th
in the nation by NIH expenditures, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.
Our tagline speaks to our vision: “The School of Medicine: Advancing Science. Improving Care.”
We must be proud of that vision, embrace it, and live it each and every day. It is that image of
our collective future that drives our daily activities and strategic planning. Now we must simply
continue the work we have begun together to bring that vision to fruition.
R
Speaking of moving forward, we are within months of the roll-out of our new curriculum. The
Class is almost selected – it will probably be the best class we have ever enrolled in the history of the
University of Colorado School of Medicine – and August 8th they will begin orientation with
classes beginning the following week on “The Ides of August”. Nearly a hundred faculty have been
involved in the design and construction of the new curriculum. The outline of it is covered
accompanying graphic. No effort this large could have happened without the cooperation of all our
department chairs, the current course directors and, last but not least, our students. The students
have actually funded the cost of the new infrastructure for our curriculum with a 4% surcharge on
dean’s message
their tuition for the last three years. This
additional tuition will generate a million
ongoing dollars in our school budget
(which is necessary since we have taken
cuts over 36% in our state funding over
the last few years).
R
We noted some significant historic events
this past winter. On January 26, 2005 the
School of Medicine celebrated (quietly) our
80th anniversary on the Ninth and
Colorado campus. Prior to that day in
1925, the basic science faculty were in
Boulder, and the clinical faculty were in
downtown Denver at an early rendition of
Colorado General Hospital. On February
25, 2005 we honored the first AfricanAmerican graduate of our School.
Dr. Charles James Blackwood, Jr., MD,
graduated in 1947 and went on to achieve
many other firsts. He was our first AfricanAmerican clinical faculty member and the
first African-American on the staff at St.
Luke’s Hospital. It was a wonderful
ceremony, although long overdue.
R
We have begun a series of evening gettogethers at the Northern Trust Bank in
Denver for our alumni, where two of our
faculty discuss or debate a topic of
interest. The first one related to
pharmaceutical marketing to patients and
physicians (the pros and cons of both).
Nearly 30 alumni came for the event. I am also planning trips to Phoenix and Kansas City next fall to visit with
alumni in those regions to bring them up to date on what is going on here.
Speaking of “what’s going on here,” that is the title of a weekly e-mail newsletter that I have started to send out to
1800 members of the School’s faculty every week. If you are interested in receiving a copy, send an e-mail to
[email protected] and we will add you to the list.
Best wishes for the summer.
Richard Krugman, MD
Dean
P.S. Be sure to read the compelling account of Col. Jack Comstock and his experience as a prisoner of war.
3
cu in the news
CU IN THE NEWS
4
CU in the news
President
Hoffman
resigns
post ‘in
the University’s
best
interest’
In the
wake of 14 months of intense
controversy and public
scrutiny, CU President
Elizabeth Hoffman announced
that she is resigning as
president, effective June 30 or
when the Board of Regents
appoints a successor.
Dr. Hoffman cited negative
attention on her role as leader
of the University as the reason
for her resignation. “It
appears to me it is in the
University’s best interest that I
remove the issue of my future
from the debate so that
nothing inhibits CU’s ability
to successfully create the
bright future it so deserves,”
Dr. Hoffman said in her
March 7 resignation letter to
the regents.
Dean Krugman: School of
Medicine excelling despite
loss of state funds
The CU School of Medicine
is in excellent shape despite
the erosion of state funding
for the School, Dean Richard
Krugman told faculty at his
annual State of the School
address.
“We have growth in our
clinical enterprise, new
research facilities and space,
and are developing an
entirely new curriculum, even
though our state funds are
eroding,” Dr. Krugman said.
“This speaks to the extremely
high quality of our talented
and energetic faculty.”
Dr. Krugman said that the
School was ranked fourth in
the country among public
medical schools in federal
research grant and contract
awards in the American
Association of Medical
Colleges institutional goals
report for 2002-03, with the
School trailing only the
University of Washington,
University of California, Los
Angeles and the University of
California, San Francisco. The
School of Medicine was
ranked 15th among the 126
public and private medical
schools in the United States.
Even though faculty are
adept at bringing research
funding and clinical earnings
to the campus, dwindling
state funding is pushing the
School to explore higher
tuition and larger class sizes,
Dr. Krugman said.
The School also is
exploring ways to develop
and increase its endowment,
Dr. Krugman said. “We must
develop an endowment to
serve as the blood bank when
other sources of funding start
to hemorrhage,” he said. “We
have been great at
establishing endowed chairs,
but in addition, we need to
focus our efforts on building
our endowment.” The current
goal is to raise $500 million
over five years, he added, and
he said he has created an
impressive council of advisors
from business, higher
education, health care and
philanthropic agencies to aid
in building the endowment.
CU medical student one of 5
Pisacano Leadership
scholars
Oswaldo “Ozzie” Grenardo, a
fourth-year medical student
at the CU School of Medicine,
has been selected as one of five
2004 Pisacano Scholars.
Scholarships from the Pisacano
Leadership Foundation are
awarded to highly accomplished students with a strong
commitment to family
practice, who are expected to
become the future leaders of
the specialty. Mr. Grenardo is
the third CU student to be
selected for the program since
its inception in 1994.
CU School of Medicine class
size could increase
According to the School’s
faculty committee exploring
the issue, the School could
accommodate an increase in
class size of 12-16 students a
year, even before the School
moves to the Fitzsimons
campus.
The Ninth Avenue and
Colorado Boulevard campus
can accommodate only a
small increase in the number
of students because it has
limited basic-science lab
space for classes such as
anatomy. However, when the
School moves to a planned
new education complex at
Fitzsimons, it will be able to
expand the class size by 36 to
40 students.
The medical school has
not changed its class size,
currently capped at 132
students per year, since 1972.
Since class size was capped,
the state’s population has
doubled, from 2.2 million to
4.5 million. The increases in
cu in the news
population have ratcheted up the
number of Colorado residents who
qualify to enter medical school, but
the School cannot accommodate
them. This has resulted in
Colorado having one of the lowest
medical-student-to-statepopulation ratios in the country.
According to the 2004 annual
report from the School of
Medicine admissions committee,
the School received 2,512
applications for its 132 slots. Of
those applicants, 589 were
Colorado residents, and only 131
Colorado residents were offered
admission. In response to a
question, Dean Richard Krugman
said the school could easily accept
30 to 40 more students “while
keeping high student quality.”
CU School of Medicine to study
online system for Diabetics
The University of Colorado School
of Medicine was recently awarded a
grant from the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, through its
Health e-Technologies Initiative, to
study an Internet application called
Diabetes System to Access Records
(Diabetes-STAR). The $400,000
grant will fund a two-year study of
Diabetes-STAR by the School of
Medicine’s Colorado Health
Outcomes Program. DiabetesSTAR is designed to assist people
living with Type II diabetes by
providing them with customized
information and advice, and by
facilitating the patients’ electronic
communication with their medical
providers. Patients can use
Diabetes-STAR to access
information in their medical
records, send messages to hospital
staff, schedule appointments,
request referrals and refill
prescriptions. Diabetes-STAR will
enable patients to maintain diaries
of their blood sugar and blood
pressure and to track lab test
results. It will also assist patients in
overcoming barriers that impede
their goals for better diet and
exercise habits. Beginning Dec. 1,
the study will involve 450 patients
who are already being treated for
Type II diabetes at University of
Colorado Hospital’s outpatient
clinics. Two versions of the
Diabetes-STAR program will be
compared in a randomized trial.
Results are expected to be
announced in September 2006.
CU School of Medicine team gets
$6.8 million grant to study renal
disease
Researchers in the School’s
Department of Medicine Division
of Renal Diseases and
Hypertension have been awarded
a $6.8 million research grant to
further their studies on the
regulation of the antidiuretic
hormone arginine vasopressin.
Robert Schrier, MD, of renal
diseases and hypertension has been
principal investigator on this
program project grant from the
National Institutes of Health for
the last 25 years, and the current
grant is funded for years 26 to 30.
Tomas Berl, MD, head of renal
diseases and hypertension, and
Raphael Nemenoff, PhD, of
medicine and pharmacology are
co-investigators on the grant. The
research involves study of the
molecular and cellular mechanisms
of perturbations in water
metabolism in endocrine disorders
including thyroid and adrenal
diseases, and the vascular and
epithelial actions of vasopressin.
CU School of
Medicine
honors first
AfricanAmerican
graduate
In recognition
of Black
History Month,
the CU School of Medicine held a
reception Feb. 25, celebrating the
life and accomplishments of
Charles James Blackwood, Jr., MD,
the first African-American
graduate of the CU School of
Medicine in 1947. Blackwood also
was the first African-American
clinical professor of medicine at
the School and the first AfricanAmerican on the staff of St. Luke’s
Hospital. He graduated from the
CU School of Medicine in the top
10 of his class.
Barbara Davis Center for
Childhood Diabetes celebrates
100,000th patient visit
The Barbara Davis Center for
Childhood Diabetes at the CU
School of Medicine completed the
100,000th patient visit March 10.
The center, which opened in 1980,
provides clinical services for
children, adolescents and young
adults with Type I diabetes.
Additionally, the center supports
substantial clinical and basic
science research programs to
prevent and ultimately cure this
chronic life-threatening disease.
The clinical team at the Barbara
Davis Center provides care to more
than 5,000 registered patients,
including 3,400 children seen by
the pediatric clinic, making it one
of the largest diabetes centers in
the world. More than 20 percent of
the patients come from outside
Colorado, mostly the Rocky
Mountain region, but some travel
5
6
cu in the news
CU in the news
from areas as remote as South
Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, Israel,
Jordan, China, England and Chilé.
The Barbara Davis Center leads
the nation in childhood diabetes
research, translating the newest
discoveries into routine practice.
Study shows no correlation in
suicide attempts and
antidepressant use in teens
Researchers at the CU School of
Medicine recently concluded an
observational study to test the
theory that antidepressant use by
teens put them at increased risk for
attempting suicide. The study,
recently published in the
international journal CNS Drugs,
found no correlation between
antidepressant use and suicide
attempt in teens after adjusting for
many related factors.
The study was completed by
observing a sample of managed
care enrollees across the United
States, ages 12 to 18, who were
newly diagnosed with major
depressive disorder between
January 1997 and March 2003.
Frequent after-hours callers to
family physicians use more
resources
A new study published in the
December issue of the Annals of
Family Medicine finds that patients
who make frequent after-hours
telephone calls to family
physicians’ offices use more health
resources than other patients.
David E. Hildebrandt, PhD, and
John M. Westfall, MD, MPH, of the
CU School of Medicine, coauthored the study.
The study finds frequent callers
are predominantly female patients
experiencing anxiety, depression,
chronic illness or pain. Compared
with other patients, frequent callers
have three times as many office
visits, medical diagnoses, and
medication prescriptions and eight
times as many hospital admissions.
Faculty news
UCDHSC
Chancellor
James Shore
announces his
2005 retirement
James H.
Shore, MD,
Chancellor of
the University of Colorado at
Denver and Health Sciences
Center, will resign as chancellor no
later than Oct. 31, 2005. Chancellor
Shore has given notice of his intent
to allow time to complete a search
for his successor by the fall of
2005. Dr. Shore, 64, will remain a
tenured professor in the
Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Colorado School of
Medicine.
Since 1998, Dr. Shore has served
as chancellor of the CU Health
Sciences Center, during which time
the $2.3 billion move to Fitzsimons
became a reality and, under his
leadership, the timeline was
accelerated. Dr. Shore has served as
chancellor of CU Denver and
Health Sciences Center since the
campuses were consolidated in July
2004.
During his tenure at the CU
Health Sciences Center, Dr. Shore
presided over unprecedented
growth in institutional revenues,
including a doubling of outside
research dollars to some $300
million in the last fiscal year.
Despite state budget challenges in
recent years, the CU Health
Sciences Center has continued to
grow by all measures – employment, economic impact, number of
students, student financial aid and
scholarships – as well as an
impressive $320 million in private
funds.
From 1985 to 1999, Dr. Shore
was professor and chair of the
department of psychiatry and
superintendent of the Colorado
Psychiatric Hospital. Prior to that,
he was professor and chairman of
psychiatry at Oregon Health
Sciences University. Dr. Shore
received his MD degree at Duke
University in 1965 and completed
his psychiatric residency training at
the University of Washington in
Seattle in 1969. His work with
Native Americans and the Indian
Health Service earned him a
Commendation Medal from the
U.S. Public Health Service.
Dr. Freedman elected to Institute
of Medicine
Robert Freedman, MD, chair of
psychiatry and professor of
psychiatry and pharmacology at
the CU School of Medicine, was
recently elected to the Institute of
Medicine of the National
Academies. Dr. Freedman was one
of 65 new members, raising the
IOM’s total active membership to
1,416.
Members are elected through a
highly selective process that
recognizes people who have made
major contributions to the
advancement of the medical
sciences, health care, and public
health. Election is considered one
of the highest honors in the fields
of medicine and health. Current
active members elect new members
from among candidates nominated
for their professional achievement
and commitment to service.
Dr. Freedman was nominated
for his work in the treatment of
psychotic disorders, including
schizophrenia and substance abuse.
He co-founded the Institute for
Children’s Mental Disorders, and is
cu in the news
director of the Schizophrenia
Research Center and director of
mental illness research education at
the Denver VA Medical Center. Dr.
Freedman and his faculty
colleagues received a major grant
from the National Institute of
Mental Health and are currently
working to develop a new
treatment for schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder through
manipulation of chemical
responses in the brain.
Dr. Freedman’s election to the
IOM brings the total number of
members from the CU School of
Medicine to ten. Others are
Frederick C. Battaglia, MD, John J.
Conger, MD, Larry A. Green, MD,
Richard G. Johnston, Jr., MD, Spero
M. Manson, MD, Bernard W.
Nelson, MD, Robert W. Schrier, MD,
James E. Strain, MD, and David W.
Talmage, MD.
Paul Bunn, MD is among the
highest national oncology
thought leaders
Dr. Bunn, of the CU Cancer Center
has been named a national
“Thought Leader” for non-small
cell lung cancer, in one of nine
BioMedical Insights Inc. Thought
Leader Reports. Based on about
600 survey responses from medical
practitioners, BioMedical Insights
ranked national “thought leaders,”
also known as key opinion leaders,
for each tumor type. Other tumor
types surveyed were breast,
colorectal, prostate, head and neck,
melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, ovarian and pancreatic.
Thought leaders were defined as
experienced peers to whom a
physician would look for advice
and insight, an individual involved
in important clinical research or
one who is widely published and
recognized as an expert in the field.
Robert D. D’Ambrosia, MD
recognized for lifetime
achievement in orthopaedics
The New Jersey Orthopaedic
Society - the oldest orthopaedic
state society - recently bestowed its
highest honor, the Goldenberg
Lecture Award, upon Dr.
D’Ambrosia, at its 29th Annual Fall
Symposium. This award is
presented annually to a nationally
prominent speaker or lecturer in
honor of Raphael Goldenberg,
MD, a leading orthopaedic surgeon
and former chief of orthopaedic
surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital and
Medical Center in Patterson, NJ.
Dr. D’Ambrosia, a Denver
resident, serves as professor and
chair of orthopaedic surgery at the
CU School of Medicine, where he
is actively involved in residency
selection, training and mentoring.
In addition to serving as editor-inchief of Orthopaedics magazine, he
is also the president-elect of the
American Section of International
Society of Orthopaedic Surgery
and Traumatology and pastpresident of the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
CU-Boulder chancellor accepts
position at University of Colorado
Hospital
Richard L. Byyny, MD, chancellor
of the University of Colorado at
Boulder since 1997, accepted a
position as executive director of a
new health policy center at the
University of Colorado Hospital at
Fitzsimons in Aurora, effective
March 1.
In addition to his academic and
administrative career, Dr. Byyny is
a physician specializing in internal
medicine. In his new position at
the hospital, he will provide
leadership for analyzing and
formulating policies on hospital
care and health care delivery.
The newly-established
University of Colorado Hospital
Health Policy Center will provide a
conduit for research and
information sharing for the best
practices in patient safety and
quality of care. Through innovative
and creative research, analysis and
the most advanced technologies,
the center will evaluate hospital
care to improve healthcare delivery,
policy and education for healthcare
professionals.
Phillip S. Wolf, MD recognized as
a “Gold Doc” by appreciative
patients
Dr. Wolf, professor of cardiology at
the department of medicine at the
CU School of Medicine has been
recognized as a “Gold Doc” by the
New Jersey based not-for-profit
Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Dr.
Wolf, who was nominated by
several of his Denver area patients,
was honored at a dinner on
December 29th at the home of Lee
and Barbara Mendel. The
Foundation’s “Gold Doc” program,
which recognizes outstanding role
model doctors nominated by their
patients for “keeping compassionate
care prominent in the practice of
medicine,” is one of more than 20
innovative medical education
programs encouraging and
fostering humanism in medicine. n
7
alumni profile: comstock
Jack Comstock: A Survivor’s Story
by Kenna Br une r
B
Being assigned to the Phillipine Island of
He was stationed at Fitzsimons Army
Luzon in the spring of 1941 seemed like an
Hospital where he served as ward surgeon
idyllic post for Jack Comstock (MD, ’38), a
before being assigned as attending surgeon at
newly commissioned Army officer. Luzon
Sternberg Hospital in the Philippines in May
Island was one of the loveliest of the Pacific’s
1941, a desirable post in peacetime.
pearls with pristine beaches, tropical
On April 9, 1942, Dr. Comstock became a
vegetation and sparkling waters all around.
prisoner of war of the Japanese and served as
Just a few months
an attending surgeon
after his assignment
in a POW camp on
began, the dream
Luzon’s Bataan
became a nightmare.
Peninsula, 60 miles
Everything changed
from Manila.
in the Pacific after
Beginning the day
Pearl Harbor was
before the surrender
bombed on Dec. 7,
until his rescue more
1941.
than three years later,
Hours after the
Dr. Comstock risked
bombing, the
his life to secretly keep
Japanese began an
a diary while
onslaught of U.S.
imprisoned. It is the
air bases in the
only known diary
Philippines. A bitter
Dr. Jac k Comstoc k (c ent er in tan unif or m) w ith chronicling real-time
fight between Japanese fellow officers.
events of a POW in
and Allied forces for
the Pacific Theater.
control of Luzon lasted four months.
His remarkable diary describes the
Outmanned and outgunned, with food,
deprivation, starvation, diseases and atrocities
ammunition and medical supplies depleted,
of war, as well as how he bartered for food, and
and with no relief in sight, the Allies were
treated sick and wounded POWs with meager
forced to surrender in order to prevent a
supplies. The entries include how many men
wholesale slaughter of troops.
died each day, what he ate, the weather, war
After their surrender, American and
rumors and how he passed the time.
Filipino troops were marched headlong into
Dr. Comstock’s dry wit and positive attitude
the darkest terrain of human nature on a
torturous journey known as the Bataan Death are evident throughout the 130-page diary.
Courtesy of the Comstock family.
ALUMNI PROFILE
8
March. The ensuing years would test the
endurance of Dr. Comstock and the other
prisoners of war on the Bataan Peninsula.
Jack Arthur Comstock was born Dec. 19,
1914, in Fort Collins, Colo., the youngest of
three children. As a boy, the family shuttled
between Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma
looking for work, finally settling in Boulder
before the Depression hit. According to family
members, young Jack always wanted to be a
doctor.
After graduating with honors in chemistry
from the University of Colorado at Boulder,
he pursued his longtime dream of becoming a
doctor by graduating from the CU School of
Medicine in 1938. In 1940 he completed an
internship at New York City Hospital and
joined the Army in 1941.
– June 9, 1942
Sunrises and sunsets are very beautiful.
Range of mountains to the east make
me quite homesick. It would seem that
U.S.A. ought to be able to do
something about getting us out of
here even though the war is not yet
won. Red Cross not doing or allowed
to do anything yet. 286 dysentery
cases. They were already beginning to
die an hour later. Robbie told me that
on the hike…he was forced to bury
men alive. Some were trying to crawl
out of the grave. He saw men who fell
out shot and hit in the head with
shovels. All this amounts to a debt that
cannot be collected.
alumni profile: comstock
Weakened from hunger and
disease after months of fighting, an
estimated 72,000 troops were
marched by the triumphant
Japanese military some 65 miles
north to prison camps. Along the
way the POWs suffered cruelly at
the hands of their captors. Men
who couldn’t keep up risked
disemboweling, emasculation,
punitive amputations or
decapitation.
Figures vary but it’s estimated
that at least 600 Americans and
5,000 Filipinos died due to the
brutality of their captors on the
torturous march through the
jungle. The survivors were packed
into railroad cars and shipped to
prisoner of war camps, where
another 1,000 Americans and
16,000 Filipinos died from
starvation, disease and
mistreatment. Some POWs were
loaded into the holds of cargo ships
and sent to work as slave labor in
Japanese industries. By the war’s
end, more than a third of the
POWs in the Pacific would be dead.
War came on the heels of
the Depression which in
some ways helped prepare the
POWs for the grim
conditions in the camps.
During the Depression,
– June 2, 1942
I have a fourth of the hospital
assigned to me. Very bad
situation as we have
practically no drugs. Many
have malaria and we have no
quinine. Considerable
diarrhea.
Like everyone else in the camps,
the physician POWs had to
improvise in order to provide
medical care. They were able to
perform surgeries in the camp and
even some autopsies. Dr. Comstock
and his fellow physicians had the
burden of determining which
patients would benefit from their
very limited medical supplies as
opposed to those patients they
could only make comfortable. The
Japanese guards were afraid to
enter the wards because of the
contagious diseases, which perhaps
is why Dr. Comstock was able to
successfully maintain a diary.
After decades of keeping the
diary in the family, Dr. Comstock’s
National Archives
– May 30, 1942
Hiked to R.R. station and
loaded in freight cars. About
90 in our car. Was hottest time
I have ever had. Was almost
more than any of us could
stand. Got fruit and water
once along the way. Will
stay in concentration
camp in Cabanatuan
tonight. No latrines. Flies
and maggots terrible. We
have a 32 K hike
tomorrow.
Americans had learned to make do;
repair what they had; and
improvise what they needed. Their
ingenuity served them well in the
prison camps, where they trapped
rats for food; secretly built radios;
and bartered for food and supplies.
Ame rican Ex-Pr is one rs of War.
nieces, Nancy Wittemyer, BS ED
’64 and Jacquie Kilburn, BA ’71,
both of Boulder, wanted to share
their uncle’s experiences. Nancy let
fellow CU alumni Edward Kinzer,
BS Pharmacy ’48, MD ’52 and John
Farrington, BA ’49, MD ’52 read it.
Drs. Kinzer and Farrington were so
moved by Dr. Comstock’s
compassion, bravery and tenacity
that they consider him a medical
hero and want to give him the
recognition he deserves.
Dr. Kinzer, who served in the
U.S. Air Corps during the war, is
intrigued by Dr. Comstock’s diary,
for the historical significance that
documents an event in our history
he strongly feels should not go
unmarked. A retired physician living
in Johnstown, Dr. Kinzer said of
Dr. Comstock, “He could be a symbol
of the attitude and accomplishments
of all of us who served in WWII
through what he did.”
Dr. Farrington, who served with
the 77th Infantry during the war,
never met Dr. Comstock, although
he has come to know him through
the diary. He made the observation
that soldiers are not trained to be
POWs.
“It’s all on-the-job training,”
said Dr. Farrington, a retired
Boulder physician, about being a
prisoner of war. “People rose to the
occasion and did what they had to
during those difficult times when
they found themselves in
intolerable situations. They learned
to cope from one day to the next.
To survive, they had to be tougher
than their captors, although they
couldn’t show it.”
Disease was a relentless problem
in the camps. In the first few
months, dysentery, starvation and
malaria were the primary causes of
death. As time passed, the effects of
strenuous labor and malnutrition
took a dreadful toll on the men.
9
alumni profile: comstock
Severe nutritional deficiencies
caused a host of debilitating
diseases, including scurvy,
diphtheria, beriberi, pellegra and
rickets. Other conditions
Dr. Comstock encountered were
pustular dermatitis, acute
glomerulonephritis, primary
amebic pulmonary abscess and
meningitis.
When so many POWs were
losing their eyes, testicles and limbs
to disease-related complications,
success stories were few.
A letter written in 1972 by a
former POW patient expressed
gratitude to Dr. Comstock for
saving his leg. When the wounded
man was brought into the camp
hospital, it was feared his lower leg
would have to be amputated, but
Dr. Comstock refused to give up
without a fight. With no anesthetic
available, four men held the
unfortunate man down while
Dr. Comstock cut the wound open,
cleaned it out, filled the incision
with sulfanilamide powder and
then lay him in the sun to
recuperate. After repeating the
procedure twice more and with a
few weeks rest, the man recovered
– June 25, 1942
Men on my ward rapidly
going down hill. About 60
now having active chills and
fever. Number of dysentery
cases increasing. Amount of
edema increasing. General
weakness definitely
increasing. No medicines or
supplies. Not even any
dressings. Quite an epidemic
of upper respiratory disease.
I believe half will be dead in 4
to 6 weeks if no medicine
comes in. 17 diphtheria
suspects brought from Camps
#2 and #3. Mango beans for
supper…
Deprived of adequate protein,
vitamins and minerals, the men’s
bodies shunted nutrients away
from non-vital organs, causing
their hair, eyes, feet, teeth and
nerves to be affected by an array
of ghastly conditions, the likes of
which a physician may never
encounter in a lifetime.
– Oct. 23, 1942
6 deaths. Have about 100
corneal ulcers due to vitamin
A deficiency present in
hospital. Vitamin deficiencies
are getting worse and worse.
I am afraid much blindness
will result from the
xerophthalmia, if not death.
Scurvy, pellagra,
xerophthalmia and beriberi
Courtesy of the Comstock family.
are as common here now as
colds are in winter back
home, and not just mild cases,
but severe.
Dr. Comstock’s POW ration cards.
fully. “I have always been very
grateful for this…and wish to
thank you for all you did for
me…,” the man wrote.
A POW’s survival depended
upon his will to live and the ability
to adjust to the daily mayhem and
desperate conditions of captivity.
– Oct. 16, 1942
7 deaths, including 4 officers.
Terrible rice today. Had more
worms than usual in it. Have
got to the point that I no
longer attempt to pick out
the worms unless they have
an especially pleading look in
their eyes. Just as well eat
them and get a little protein.
Courtesy of the Comstock family.
10
Dr. Comstock’s POW ration cards.
Despite the hardships,
Dr. Comstock was able to find
diversions. He whittled a chess set,
using neoprotosil to color the
pieces, played the occasional
volleyball game and read
alumni profile: comstock
voraciously, books such as Thin
Man, Pocketbook of History, A Man
Called Cervantes, and Good Earth,
including brief reviews of his
books in his diary.
Courtesy of the Comstock family.
performed in July 1947 on aliens
vision and was color blind, but that
from a crashed spaceship in New
didn’t deter him from growing an
Mexico, Dr. Comstock could hardly enviable English garden featuring
stop laughing long enough to
42 varieties of dahlias. Every fall he
declare, “Preposterous!”
could be found in the kitchen
In the mid-1950s, he began to
dressed in faded army fatigues
lose
his
eyesight
due
to
ocular
making jellies and preserves from
– April 2, 1943
histoplasmosis
perhaps
a
the apples, blackberries,
No deaths. Usual ward work
consequence
of
his
imprisonment.
raspberries, cherries and pears that
in the A.M. Played some chess
He retired from the Air Force as a
grew around his Victorian home.
and slept in P.M. Went to a
colonel
in
1957.
Because
of
his
“He was a person who enjoyed
show “Town Hall Tonight”
vision
loss,
he
was
unable
to
set
up
life and went out of his way to
after supper. Show was very
a medical practice, but continued
enrich other people’s lives,” said
well done and was very
to
care
for
family
and
friends
for
Ms. Wittemyer. “He had an ability
interesting. Food continues
many
years.
to make ordinary events special.
scant. Meat issue is still small
After
returning
to
Boulder,
How he could have such an
and vegetables are greatly
Dr. Comstock moved into the
unbelievable garden when he was
decreased.
family home in Boulder to care for
blind – that just explains him. And
his
aging
parents.
His
nieces,
Nancy
when he got Parkinson’s Disease
On Jan. 30, 1945, the 6th Army
Wittemyer
and
Jacquie
Kilburn,
later in life, he bore that with such
Ranger Battalion stormed the POW
were quite fond of him. They
dignity.”
camp in Cabanatuan rescuing
remember
him
as
a
generous,
caring
hundreds of American and British
continued on page 17
prisoners. A few days later, soldiers man who wholeheartedly embraced
life after the war. He made every
liberated the camp where Dr.
occasion special, they said, whether
Comstock was being held.
cooking gourmet meals for holiday
gatherings or making homemade
– Feb. 5, 1945
ice cream and
What a day! Americans have
lemonade for casual
moved into compound with
machine guns, rifles, etc….Oh, summer gatherings.
“We knew it was
wonderful, wonderful
bad, but the way he
Americans! Just to see these
wrote the diary, he
soldiers in their green
uniforms and with their rifles, didn’t dwell on the
hideousness of it,”
all well nourished and
said Kilburn. “He
looking plenty tough…
always found
something good to
After the war, Dr. Comstock
continued his medical career in the say in his diary. He
came home with a
newly created U.S. Air Force and
gusto for life.”
served in a variety of areas,
Unable to drive,
including post surgeon at Roswell
Air Force Base in New Mexico and he would pedal
about town on a
deputy air surgeon with the
Strategic Air Command in Omaha, clunker of a bicycle
with his little dog
Neb. He was a medical observer at
the first hydrogen bomb test at the Chloe perched in the
Bikini Atoll in 1947 and later in life basket to check on
elderly neighbors. By
was even interviewed about
then Dr. Comstock
extraterrestrials. When asked
only had peripheral WWII Standard Red Cross POW Package.
whether an autopsy had been
11
SURVIVORS
pow survivors
POW
12
POW Survivors
by Ste ve n O bole r, MD
Denver VA Medical Ce nter
M
Many Americans’ concept of POW internment
was shaped by high budget Hollywood movies
about Vietnam POWs and MIAs. Surprising to
most is the fact that 98 percent of the 39,025
exPOWs alive on January 1, 2003 were
interned during WW II and Korea, with an
average age today of 82 years.
Unlike most movie depictions, surviving
exPOWs don’t see themselves as heroes.
Soldiers don’t aspire to become prisoners of
the enemy. For a soldier, becoming a POW is a
mission failed. In addition to severe
deprivation of food, housing, clothing and
medical care, POWs face terrible spiritual
deprivation – months and even years of little
or no contact with the outside world. Winston
Churchill (1939), recounting his experiences as
a prisoner in 1902 during the Boer War in
South Africa, described it vividly:
“It is a melancholy state. You are in the
power of the enemy…. You must obey his orders,
await his pleasure, possess your soul in patience.
The days are very long; hours crawl by like
paralytic centipedes….”
Treatment of POWs has varied greatly from
war to war as well as from camp to camp,
affected by a variety of factors, including:
• Mankind’s varying concept of the
value of life;
• The economic and logistical capacities of the
captors;
• The belief that reprisals are a “legitimate”
activity;
• Adherence to or rejection of international
conventions on human rights;
• Climate and geography; and
• The whim of the individual captor
(VA 1980, p 23).
These differences in treatment are strikingly
reflected in the range of POW deaths in
captivity during WW II: from just over one
percent among 93,000 European Theater
POWs in contrast with 40 percent among
29,000 Pacific Theater internees. American
defenders of Bataan were so weak and
debilitated from months of heavy combat and
restricted rations that there were more POW
deaths in the first few weeks following the fall
of Bataan and gruesome death march than
during the entire war in the European Theater
POW camps.
Survivors of WW II Pacific Theater
internment, including Dr. Comstock, endured
some of the harshest treatment ever
experienced by American POWs. A question
which constantly recurs whenever one
considers the POW experience, is why this
particular individual or group survived.
Fortunately, among WW II Pacific Theater
POW survivors, this issue was addressed in a
systematic fashion as part of the 1945 “Morgan
Board” repatriation exams of over 4,600 Pacific
Theater POWs (Morgan, Wright & van
Ravenswaay, 1946):
“Many factors doubtless played a part in
survival. The factor of chance was important,
since any man might have been on a torpedoed
Japanese prison ship or slain in a fit of temper
by some Japanese soldier…. When the
prisoners were asked for their opinions in this
regard many of them stated that their confreres
who had died when the going was difficult had
in many instances ‘lacked the will to live.’ The
‘will to live’ is an intangible phrase. It is
difficult to define, but the men who did not
give up were characterized by some of the
following qualifications:
1. They had a never-failing hope of rescue.
2. They were possessed of a high morale and
courage.
3. They were individuals who adjusted rather
easily to difficult situations.
4. They were nonaggressive or at least were
able to control a tendency to
pugnaciousness which, if allowed to
evidence itself, frequently resulted in
summary death.
5. They were willing to eat anything, however
disagreeable, if it might contain nutritional
value.
6. They were willing to secure food by any
and all means.”
pow survivors
The long-term consequences of
this “will to live” exacted a high
price from the futures of many
survivors of POW internment. The
Department of Veterans Affairs now
recognizes an extensive list of
conditions that are more prevalent
among aging POWs than nonPOW combatants, including:
Residuals of malnutrition
and avitaminosis
Residuals of cold injuries
Psychosis
Any anxiety disorder
(including post-traumatic
stress disorder)
Depression
On a personal note, Dr. Jack
Comstock was a quiet hero to me.
Through his diary and life, he
taught me the power of hope and
having a positive attitude even in
the most desperate of times. This
optimism was evident in his very
first entry on the day the American
and Filipino defenders of Bataan
were ordered to surrender:
Coronary artery disease
Hypertension
Cerebrovascular accidents
Peptic ulcer disease
Traumatic arthritis
Peripheral neuropathies
Irritable bowel syndrome
“April 8, 1942: Nice day. Air
raids right after breakfast. Many,
many patients all day. Few casualty,
but mostly malnutrition,
exhaustion and nerves…. Nurses
sent to Corregidor about 10:00 pm.
We are to stay to run the hospital.
No front lines; we are sunk.”
Much of Dr. Comstock’s journal
is just about daily life, being able to
get the weakest men under his care
an extra egg or banana, listening to
rumors and hoping that he would
have the will and strength to
survive. Dr. Comstock not only
survived, his selfless actions helped
n
hundreds of others to survive.
Number of POWs and MIAs in Five Wars
WWI
WWII
4,120
130,201
7,140
725
Died While POW
147
14,072
2,701
64
0
16,984
Alive as of 1/1/03
0
36,145
2,264
595
21
39,025
3,350
78,773
8,100
1,903
1
92,127
Captured & Interned
MIA
Korea Vietnam
Gulf
Total
21 142,207
Source: Stenger, 2003
References:
1. Stenger, CA (1985): American Prisoners of War in WWI, WWII, Korea, Persian Gulf, Somolia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afganistan:
Statistical Data Concerning Numbers Captured, Repatriated, and Still Alive as of January 1, 2003. Washington, DC: American
Ex-Prisoners of War Association.
2.
Churchill, WS (1939): A Roving Commission. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons.
3.
Department of Veterans Affairs (1980). POW: Study of Former Prisoners of War. Washington, DC: VA Office of Planning
and Program Evaluation.
4.
Morgan HJ, Wright IS, van Ravenswaay A (1946): Health of repatriated prisoners of war from the Far East. JAMA, 130,
995-999.
Steven Oboler, MD: Among many duties at the Denver VA Medical Center, since 1983, Dr. Oboler has been the exPOW Physician
Coordinator, working with about 1,000 former POWs and their families. Dr. Oboler completed his residency in Internal Medicine at
UCHSC in 1975 and was a fellow in General Internal Medicine in 1976-77. He is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine.
13
AT
W A R
doctors at war
D O C T O R S
14
Doctors at War: A Piece of Work?©
by Robin Pedow itz, MD
Denver VA Medical Ce nte r
May be reprinted only with permission of author
R
Reasonable folks understand:
Peace is not without conflict.
War can bring consensus.
Life is beautiful, and ugly.
People are contradictory.
The Combat Zone
Physicians are under attack. There are enemy
forces without (and within). The role of doctor
is changing.
“Only when something has become problematic do
we start to ask questions. Disagreement shakes us
out of our slumbers and forces us to see our own
point of view through contact with another person
who does not share it.”
R.D. Laing
The Politics of Experience (1967)
Doctors claim to diagnose, fix, relieve and cure.
Historically, they have been expected to put the
welfare of the patient above personal and
commercial interests. The part of the healer has
always been shaped by the moment in time, and
the culture. The priestess, the shaman, the “ol’
country doc”, the specialist, all have worked to
restore the sick to health. Ailing and needing
treatment is part of the human condition; the
“business” of healing is inherent to human life.
As it happens, “doctors” now treat a great
deal more than “mere somebodies”: There are
“dent-doctors, lawn-doctors, script-doctors,
love-doctors and even doctors of the Universe”.
Are doctors healers, business people, scientists,
technicians or social servants…? Obviously,
doctors have branched out beyond the realm of
healthcare.
Under Siege
Throughout time aggressive outsiders have
threatened local groups using force against the
outsider, and managing order within the group
became the work of the armed person. In many
societies, the police officer and the soldier serve
this role. They become ill, and wounded; some
die. Combat is one of the oldest of settings
requiring medical expertise.
“Physicians have ‘gone to war’ for thousands of
years. This is made necessary by the nature of war.
The ‘end’ or goal of war is to achieve control over
others…the ‘means’ or method of achieving this
control is violence…”
W. Madden & B.S. Carter
Physician-Soldier: A Moral Profession
Militar y Medical Ethics, vol. I (2003)
“War is an exceptional crisis situation; not part of
the normal life of society.”
T. Parsons
The Social System (1951)
Military physicians are asked to relieve pain and
suffering, and at the same time they are sworn
members of the profession of arms---soldiering.
Is it possible to be a physician and a soldier?
It is not an accident that many words of clinical
medicine are words of war…a war is being waged
against cancer, diseases attack the body…the
physician aggressively uses everything in his
armamentarium to claim victory for his patient.”
W. Madden & B.S. Carter
Physician-Soldier: A Moral Profession
Militar y Medical Ethics, vol. I (2003)
There are similarities between medicine and the
military.
At times the demands of an organization will
outweigh those of any individual. This is the
nature of group activity. Military doctors are
faced with competing loyalties, but the basics of
these obligations are not all that dissimilar from
a physician employed by an institution or
agency (prisons, schools, government
organizations). Even a private-practitioner faces
conflicting demands from the patient, the
hospital, and the insurer. What is medical
necessity?
The military doctor “does no harm” in
service of “the greater good.” Tough decisions
are made. Soldiers are patched-up, and sent
back to battle to do harm to others. Medical
care is prioritized. Limited supplies, often, limit
humanitarian efforts.
doctors at war
Reasonable folks understand:
There are powerful
forces balancing the
world.
Absolutes are rare.
A dose of reality is a
hard pill to swallow. n
Map design: Robin Pedowitz
Should physicians refuse to
participate in military service and
combat settings?
They are, at minimum, support
staff to a violent war machine,
and at times, circumstances
require them to be personally
“locked and loaded.”
In “VAnguard” (Nov/ Dec
2004) Dr. Kenneth Lee, a chief
of spinal cord injury at the
C.J. Zablocki VAMC in
Milwaukee was noted to
have received severe
shrapnel injuries as a
result of a suicide car
bombing in Baghdad.
Dr. Lee, whose mission
was to set-up seven
comprehensive medical sites
in and around Baghdad, was
quoted, “I quickly realized that
this was going to be pretty
hazardous….Every mission no
matter how routine, our weapons
were locked and loaded…there
were a lot of close calls and
quick decisions.”
Are medical ethics more
important than the ethics of other
institutions? Do medical ethics
conflict with those of the military
or other societal institutions? Are
military physicians performing a
legitimate service?
References:
1. Department of Defense (2003): The Textbooks of Military Medicine: Military Medical Ethics, Volumes 1 and 2. Office of The Surgeon
General, Department of the Army, United States of America. [http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/pubs.html].
2. Loewy, EH, Loewy, RS (2004): Textbook of Healthcare Ethics. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
3. Parsons, T (1951): The Social System. United States of America: The Free Press of Glencoe.
4. Bristol, M (2004): A Close Call. VAnguard, Vol. 1, No.6, 6-7.
5. Laing, RD (1967): The Politics of Experience. New York: Pantheon Books.
Robin Pedowitz, MD: Dr. Pedowitz works in the Department of Compensation and Pension at the Denver VA Medical Center. She is also a
consultant to businesses specializing in biomedical education and healthcare.
15
P R O F I L E
faculty profile
F A C U L T Y
16
A Commitment To Care
by Kenna Bruner
Colleen Conry, MD, ‘84, is a professor and vice chair of the University of Colorado School of
Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. She completed medical school, residency, and
chief residency at the CU School of Medicine before joining the faculty in the Department of
Family Medicine.
As chair of the Commission on Education for the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr.
Conry works at the national level on policy issues and support of family physicians. She
completed leadership training with the School’s support from the Executive Leadership in
Academic Medicine and sits on a national task force studying the role family physicians play
in the care of children. Throughout her career, Dr. Conry has been committed to caring for the
underserved. The fact that 11 million children in this country are without access to health care
How did you get
into Family
Medicine?
I grew up with a
family doctor who
took care of
everything. A.F.
Williams, MD, a
physician from
Fort Morgan,
Colo., delivered
my grandmother,
so I grew up with
that model of a country family doctor. I have
practiced at the A.F. Williams Family
Medicine Center for 21 years, named after
that country physician (as well as a
foundation in his name that donates
significant funding for our department).
When I was a medical student doing a
psych rotation, I had a pregnant patient I did
short-term counseling for and got to know
her really well. I happened to be on OB when
she delivered and I got to deliver her baby.
The experience was like magic because I knew
her so well. I realized I wanted to take care of
everybody and family medicine pulled all of
that together. What mattered to me was the
relationship with the patient. When you know
patients over a long period of time, that’s
when you start to make a difference in their
lives. I have patients I have taken care of for
20 years now and it’s such a wonderful
relationship.
What has been your career goal?
Throughout my career, one of my
commitments has been taking care of the
underserved and those who don’t have
insurance. There are two ways to do that –
change the policies and provide care to
anyone who needs it. That’s difficult for all of
us because we’re in challenging financial
times.
What is the most important role Family
Medicine can play in families’ lives?
It’s a specialty that trains physicians to
provide continuous comprehensive care for
patients of all ages, with all kinds of
problems. The most important piece of that is
the continuous relationship we have with our
patients. Every person in the world should
have what we call a medical home, which is a
central place where they can go for all their
health care needs.
If I can take care of four or five problems
for you in a single visit, it’s much more cost
effective to our system. That doesn’t mean we
don’t need our specialists, but we want to
integrate care. Also, it’s much less expensive to
start with a single physician rather than going
from specialist to specialist. There are excellent
studies that document this. We see patients
with a broad list of problems; therefore, we
interact with departments for many patients
in many different ways. By collaborating, we’re
better together than we are separate.
What type of person is drawn to specialize in
Family Medicine?
Someone who likes people, who likes to think
broadly and who doesn’t mind ambiguity. We
get presented with the undifferentiated
problem. Our job is to take a bunch of
symptoms and try to put them together into a
story that makes sense.
faculty profile
What is the most pressing problem
facing a Family Medicine
practitioner today?
This is such a fun time to be in
family medicine, but many family
docs are struggling because of
reimbursement issues. All primary
care is less valued now by our
payers than other subspecialties.
We get paid less for what we do
and that’s very challenging because
what we do is so very important.
It’s hard to attract students to our
specialties when they know they
can make two to three times more
in other specialties.
How has the School’s department
changed in the past 15 years?
I was the sixth faculty member in
1988. The residency and faculty
were one and the same. Now we
have 122 faculty members. We’ve
grown from one residency to three;
from one clinical site to four.
Why has there been such an increase
in Family Medicine? What kind of
need are we responding to by
expanding Family Medicine
departments?
Family Medicine saw a great
increase in interest during the
managed care days of the 1990s. It
helped us grow as a department and
also helped establish the need for
primary care within an academic
health system. Our department has
also embraced our need to conduct
research on the kinds of problems
that family physicians see, and have
developed the tools necessary to do
that research.
What does the future hold for
Family Medicine?
We have to redesign who we are as
we move forward. That will include
the concept of a medical home. But
we also need to change how we
practice, communicate with
patients and manage health
information. That’s going to
include using electronic health
records and communicating with
patients and colleagues
electronically. We need to be more
patient-centered and less doctorcentered. We should make it easier
for patients to have care after
hours, email us with questions or
schedule their own appointments
online. Our health care systems
need primary care, so we’re poised
to make a real difference.
How do you spend your free time?
My husband, Steve Huffman, PhD,
a mostly house dad and soil
scientist, and I are very active with
our two kids, Mandy, 17, and Matt,
15, in scouting, hiking and
backpacking – the usual Colorado
outdoor activities. Our favorite
place is our cabin in northern
Colorado – complete with an
outhouse and no running water!
And yes, my family sees a family
physician at A.F. Williams Family
Medicine Center. Both of my
children were delivered by family
n
doctors.
As Drs. Kinzer and Farrington remind us, it
matters to acknowledge and honor those who went
continued from page 11
through hell and came out the other side. What we
– Oct. 13, 1944
are is defined by what we were. Even in the bleakest
This probably is last entry, as I am getting
moments of our lives, seeds of a brighter future are
ready to bury my diaries, and hope I can
being sown.
recover them after the war. It is a certainty I
can’t get them out with me. Probably would
– Feb. 22, 1945
mean a lead pellet for me if they were found. …We are supposed to leave in A.M….Future
Probably, they have just been a lot of work
looks rosy for us from here on out.
n
for nothing. Much air activity today. Could the
Yanks be near? Hope I get to read this after
The Alumni Relations Office and the University are
the war.
exploring ways and means to preserve CU’s “medical
Comstock: A Survivor’s Story Cont.
Many SOM alumni served in WWII, from
infantryman and tank commander to fighter pilot and
support personnel. Their stories are equally
compelling and poignant.
Theirs is the generation that weathered a Depression
and won a world war, the war they hoped would finally
end all world wars. Too soon, the first-hand accounts
will be gone and all that will remain will be diaries,
faded photographs and stories passed on.
heritage” including collecting and preserving stories of
medical heroes like Jack Comstock. If you have a story to
share, please write us at:
Office of Alumni Relations
4200 East 9th Ave., A-080
Denver, CO 80262
Our goal is to establish a Health Sciences Heritage Center
at the new Fitzsimons campus. We’ll be sharing more on
this topic with readers in future issues.
17
T O
B E D S I D E
bench to bedside
B E N C H
18
New Cooling Device Tackles Temperature to
Save the Lives of Cardiac Arrest Patients
by Norman Paradis, MD, Professor of Surgery and Medicine, CU School of Medicine and
Kennon Heard, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, CU School of Medicine
J
Just a few short years ago, if a person’s heart
were to stop – even for a brief few minutes –
there was little chance they would survive the
event. Despite the impression left by
television programs like ER, history shows in
cities like Chicago and New York less than
1 percent of cardiac arrest patients survived.
For almost three decades, doctors have
known how to restart hearts that have
stopped. The problem with reviving patients
of cardiac arrest is not the heart, but the
brain. The obstacle is to prevent the brain
injury that occurs when the heart again
begins to pump blood to the brain.
Invariably, this “reperfusion” brain injury can
subsequently kill or cripple the patient.
First, a little background. The most
common cause of cardiac arrest is a heart
attack – which is a blockage of blood flow in
an artery supplying the heart itself. As most
people appreciate, heart attacks, which
physicians call acute myocardial infarction,
occur frequently when a coronary artery is
blocked by a build-up of cholesterol. Modern
medicine has gotten quite good at treating
heart attacks, and the vast majority of patients
today suffer only a few days in the hospital
before returning to a normal life – hopefully
with a healthier lifestyle.
But sometimes the blockage can be
extensive enough that the heart will stop
beating altogether. This condition defines
cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death. In this
condition, there is no blood flow throughout
the entire body. Our ability to restore such
patients to normal function is minimal and
sudden cardiac death may be the single largest
cause of death today. More than 300,000
people die from sudden cardiac arrest each
year. Doctors are able to restore a heartbeat
to some, but very few survive with their
health, specifically their neurological health,
intact.
Most of the damage in cardiac arrest
patients occurs after the heart is restarted and
oxygenated blood flow is restored. When the
brain is not receiving blood, the metabolic
In the ER of University of Colorado Hospital,
Drs. Kennon Heard and Norman Paradis
demonstrate the Arctic Sun’s® water-transfer
pads that gently adhere to a patient’s body to
regulate temperature. The device uses a
state-of-the-art pump and refrigeration
system to automatically adjust the
temperature of water coursing through the
pads to safely induce hypothermia in cardiac
arrest patients and possibly minimize
neurological damage.
processes in brain cells stop. When blood
flow is restored, the brain cells are not ready
to process the oxygen and oxygen-mediated
brain damage occurs. The damage isn’t
instantaneous, but after the flow of blood and
oxygen is restarted, damaging “cascades”
immediately begin. After resuscitation from
cardiac arrest of any sort, the brain needs
time, and importantly assistance, if it is to
restore its capacity to care for itself.
Most people have heard of antioxidants
and believe that they may good for the body.
But most people do not fully understand how
they might function – why do we need both
oxygen and antioxidants to live? We usually
think of oxygen as an element that we need to
live. We breathe it into our lungs everyday.
bench to bedside
We know oxygen helps our bodies
convert food to energy. But what is
often not realized is that our
bodies have mechanisms in place
to prevent oxygen from oxidizing
the body itself. If you think about
it, when we want to preserve
something, like a valuable painting,
we take oxygen out of the air
around it. That same thought
process can be applied to the
human body.
As emergency physicians, we
have to ask, how can we prevent
the secondary damage to the brain
that occurs when we restart the
heart? Historically, Dr. Henry
Swan, Professor of Medicine at the
CU School of Medicine, pioneered
the use of hypothermia, the
threshold of all subsequent
developments in open-heart
surgery. His techniques proved
that inducing hypothermia, or a
hibernation-like state in patients
resuscitated from cardiac arrest
immediately after resuscitation,
slowed the body’s metabolic rate
and provided a window during
which the brain could protect
itself. Thus, the theory arose that
cooling the body’s temperature
might actually slow the oxidization
process and minimize the damage
to the brain.
Initially, these cases were limited
to rare anecdotes. Then a
pioneering group at the University
of Pittsburgh studied the protective
effect of cooling in the lab.
Physicians trained in this group
demonstrated the efficacy of the
technique in European clinical trials
that had more than half the cardiac
arrest patients walk out of the
hospital intact – a phenomenal
result.
In cooperation with an
innovative Colorado company, the
Resuscitation Research Group at
University of Colorado Hospital
(UCH) is among the first in the
nation to bring the hypothermia
technique to patients in the United
States suffering cardiac arrest.
The Medivance Corporation in
Louisville, Colo., developed the
Arctic Sun® to be a non-invasive
device capable of rapid and precise
temperature control. The Arctic
Sun® is currently being used at a
limited number of facilities in the
United States, including UCH. The
CU School of Medicine is also
coordinating a national clinical trial
to evaluate the device, and the
hospital is the only one in the
Rocky Mountain Region to
participate in the clinical trial and
use the Arctic Sun®.
The device uses a state-of-theart pump and refrigeration system
along with water-transfer pads that
gently adhere to the patient’s body
to induce hypothermia. The
temperature of the water coursing
through the pads increases or
decreases automatically to respond
to the patient’s temperature in
order to obtain the desired
temperature. In the case of cardiac
arrest patients, the desired
temperature is usually between 92
and 94 degrees.
At the time this article was
written, two of four patients have
walked out of UCH neurologically
intact after suffering prolonged
cardiac arrest that normally would
have left them brain dead. But
through the use of the Arctic Sun®,
which can both cool or warm a
patient as needed, these patients
appear to have lost no brain
function. No current physician at
the hospital can remember such
good outcomes in any patient
suffering prolonged cardiac arrest –
going back many, many years.
Each patient was cooled with
the device for approximately 24
hours and was maintained in coma
to prevent shivering and maintain
a low metabolic rate. After 24
hours, the patients were removed
from the system and their bodies
were allowed to return to normal
body temperature. After their body
temperature regulated itself, the
patients began to breathe on their
own, their pupils began responding
to light and they began to move
their limbs – however, they
remained in a stupor-like state.
Each patient woke up completely
after a few days and was able to
walk out of the hospital within a
few short weeks.
Essentially, a cooling device like
the Arctic Sun® could be used on
any patient resuscitated from
sudden death and having signs of
brain injury. While most attention
About the Authors
Norman A. Paradis, MD, and his colleague, Dr. Kennon Heard, assisted in the design of clinical research for the Arctic Sun® cooling
device from Medivance. The hospital is the only site in the Rocky Mountain Region currently participating in a clinical trial using
the Arctic Sun® to focus on the potential benefits of rapid therapeutic cooling of the body to minimize the damaging effects of
cardiac arrest.
Kennon Heard, MD, is the Section Chief of Medical Toxicology and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the CU School of Medicine.
Norman A. Paradis, MD, is the Senior Medical Director of the Emergency Department at University of Colorado Hospital and
Professor of Surgery and Medicine at the CU School of Medicine.
19
20
bench to bedside
has gone to sudden death arising
from heart attacks, the syndrome is
much broader. Sudden death
includes all instances where a
patient literally dies in the midst of
life and his or her organs are fully
capable of functioning if revived.
Examples include drowning, drug
overdose, asphyxiation or severe
asthma attack, hypothermia – the
list can go on and on.
So far, the outcome of patients
in Europe, where the Arctic Sun® is
also being evaluated, have shown a
clinically important increase in the
fraction of cardiac arrest patients
leaving the hospital who are able to
care for themselves. Use of cooling
seems to increase this fraction at
least 20 percent. The normal costs
associated with treating brain
damaged survivors of cardiac arrest
is so great that hypothermia – high
tech and costly though it may
appear – most likely will save
health care systems millions of
dollars in years to come.
Physicians first and foremost
hope to prevent disease. Failing
that, they hope to cure disease.
Resuscitation of patients who have
already died is far more
challenging. It is our hope that
eventually hypothermia can be
used immediately on cardiac
patients in ambulances after
resuscitation, minimizing delay,
decreasing reperfusion-related
brain damage and saving hearts
and brains too good to die.
n
Friends Make a Difference
Joining the Medical Alumni Association allows you to stay involved in the life and growth of the school, remain
in touch with other alumni, and have your finger on the pulse of what students and faculty are doing here at
CU. Your membership dues make possible:
• Reunions and Individual Class Activities
• Providing first year medical students with stethoscopes
• The Alumni HOST Program (Help Our Students Travel/Train), offering fourth year medical students
overnight accommodations during residency interviews in their senior year
• Providing Class Composites to graduates
• Sponsoring Continuing Medical Education courses in conjunction with Reunion Weekend activities
• Publication of CU Medicine Today
• Sponsoring a debt management seminar and lunch for first year students at their retreat
• Hosting Legislative Day with alumni and Colorado governing officials
• And more...
I am interested in becoming a member of the CU Medical Alumni Association:
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: _________________________________ email:__________________________________________
Annual Member - $50
Lifetime Member - $600
___ a) Full payment is enclosed
___ b) I wish to pay over three years at $200 per year
Check enclosed (made payable to Medical Alumni Association).
Please Charge to my n VISA or n MasterCard
Card No. _________________________________________________ Expiration date: ________________
Please mail or fax this form and your payment to:
Office of Alumni Relations, 4200 E. Ninth Avenue., A-080, Denver CO 80262
Fax (For credit card payment) 303-315-7729. Questions? call 303-315-8832, toll free 1-877-HSC-ALUM.
Thank you. Friends Do Make a Difference!
legislative outlook
by Kirsten A. Castleman
Deputy Director, State Government Relations
T
CU alumni support of this important
initiative is paramount. By talking to friends,
family, work and community members, you
can spread the word that Referendum C is good
for Colorado. If you are interested in
participating at a grass-roots level, please
contact UCDHSC’s state government relations
office for more information at 303-315-6623.
Several pieces of health care-related
legislation have been holding our interest this
year as well. After many years of zero increases
in Medicaid provider rates, the Joint Budget
Committee (JBC) voted this year to increase
provider rates by 2% across the board. This
increase will help reduce hospital budget
shortfalls this year and is great news for CU
faculty, alumni, and the University of Colorado
Hospital.
House Bill 1025 (Stafford-Hagedorn),
reinstating a “presumptive eligibility” rule for
pregnant women seeking prenatal care while
they await Medicaid enrollment, is working its
way fairly easily through the legislature. House
Bill 1086 (Plant-Tapia), reinstating Medicaid
for legal immigrants, passed quickly through
the House and Senate and was signed into law
by the Governor on February 2. House Bill
1066 (Madden-Sandoval) establishes a pilot
program to treat obesity under Medicaid. If
passed, the pilot program will be administered
by Dr. Jim Hill and his staff at the Center for
Human Nutrition at the CU School of
Medicine. Tobacco Tax legislation, which
implements Amendment 35, when passed will
bring hundreds of millions of dollars into
health care through expanded Medicaid
eligibility and other health-related programs.
For a list of and links to all of the legislation
we are tracking for UCDHSC, the University of
Colorado Hospital, and CU System, go to
http://www.uchsc.edu/legislation/Health_care_
legislation_2005.htm.
Individuals in Colorado can make a
difference when it comes to policy making.
Legislators listen to their constituents; voters
have a strong voice to educate those in their
community. The University and State need
your active support. Please feel free to contact
my office if you would like to get involved at
n
303-315-6623.
O U T L O O K
The 2005 State legislative session is well past its
half-way mark. It has been quite interesting to
see the change in leadership with the
Democrats taking over both the State House
and Senate this year. Led by House Speaker
Andrew Romanoff and Senate President Joan
Fitz-Gerald (the first woman Senate President
in Colorado), the Democrats set as their
priority early in the session passing a bipartisan budget fix that would be sent to the
voters this fall. Additionally, over 500 bills have
been introduced and are making their way
through the House and Senate. The University
of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences
Center (UCDHSC), the CU System, and
University of Colorado Hospital have worked
diligently to support legislation for a budget fix,
as well as legislation that support the operation
and mission of the University.
The Colorado Economic Recovery Act,
House Bill 1194, sponsored by House Speaker
Romanoff (D) and Senator Steve Johnson (R),
is probably the most important piece of
legislation for CU and the Health Sciences
Center campus that will be passed this year.
Speaker Romanoff and Democratic and
Republican legislative leaders joined with
Governor Owens in a press conference to
present this important Bill, which is a proposal
to restore state services to their prerecessionary levels. House Bill 1194 is expected
to pass successfully out of the legislature. It
will then head to the ballot this fall as
Referendum C.
Though the compromise is bi-partisan and
is supported by the governor, it will face a big
battle in the fall. The restrictions of TABOR
and Amendment 23 (K-12 education funding),
in conjunction with a recession and growth in
federally mandated costs such as Medicaid,
have and will continue to squeeze the higher
education budget out of existence in Colorado.
This fiscal year, the University of Colorado
received only 8.7% of its budget from the State.
If Referendum C does not pass, the General
Assembly will be forced to cut hundreds of
millions of additional dollars from the budget
this fiscal year. There is no doubt that higher
education and health care will be hit hard if
that were to occur.
L E G I S L AT I V E
State Government Relations
21
Research Complex 1 Officially Opens
by Kim Glasscock
Reprinted with permission of the Silver & Gold Record.
T
The formal
opening of
Research
Complex 1 at
the University
of Colorado
at Denver
and Health
Sciences
Center’s
Fitzsimons
campus in
Denver
marked the
first major
research
structure
constructed
at the HSC
UCDHSC Res earc h Comple x 1.
since the
Biomedical Research Building opened in 1991
on the HSC’s Ninth and Colorado campus.
“This is really wonderful space,” Thomas
Blumenthal, PhD, chair of biochemistry and
molecular genetics, said about his new office
and lab on the ninth and 10th floors in the
south building of the complex. “We are
pleased to have everyone located in the same
building and we have found it to be extremely
efficient space.” Dr. Blumenthal said his
research and office spaces were in three
separate locations on the Ninth and Colorado
campus; now his department is located on
two floors of the south tower of Research
Complex 1.
Research Complex 1 consists of two
connected buildings: a 12-story south tower
and a nine-story north tower, which are
linked by pedestrian bridges at the second,
fifth and sixth floors. The 600,640-square-foot
complex encompasses more than 250 labs and
325 faculty offices. The south building is
dedicated to cancer research, while the north
building houses biomedical research and also
includes education space and two
auditoriums. Research Complex 1 cost
approximately $216 million to construct.
The complex is designed with “very
Mike Cobb
U P D A T E
fitzsimons update
F I T Z S I M O N S
22
flexible” lab
and office
spaces,
according to
Chief Planning
Officer Jerry
Scezney of
UCDHSC
institutional
planning. “All
the lab
components
are movable,
making it easy
to reconfigure
labs to suit
researchers.
This also
makes it less
expensive and
less disruptive when researchers are moving
their labs,” he said. Most of the labs follow a
generic plan, so they can be used by any
researcher, Mr. Scezney added. To enhance
flexibility in the laboratories, designers
created a movable lab bench, with no fixed
cabinetry, that can be set at either desk or
counter height.
The open lab design also was used to
promote interaction between researchers in
different labs, which could possibly lead to
interdisciplinary research, UCDHSC officials
say. The laboratory space in the buildings
follows an open design, with minimal
separations between lab modules along with
shared common facilities. Each floor has a
“linear equipment corridor,” which houses
ultra-cold freezers and refrigerators,
centrifuges, autoclaves, shakers and other
“noisy equipment,” Dr. Blumenthal said.
“We have learned to share the use of
dishwashers and autoclaves and other
equipment,” he said. “It seems to be working
out all right, because I haven’t heard any
complaints, and I would hear them if people
were unhappy.” Shared specialty rooms, such
as cold rooms and darkrooms, are located off
the linear equipment corridor.
fitzsimons update
Mike Cobb
allow us to look at molecules we’ve
sciences, light microscopy,
never been able to study before.”
iodination and pharmacology.
Having the ability to design and Researchers from several other
universities also will use the
build new research space has also
machine for their work. The
allowed researchers to acquire a
$5 million magnet is expected to
new piece of equipment -- a 900
be installed in 2005.
megahertz nuclear magnetic
Faculty moved into their new
resonance machine. The machine
is a large magnet
that is 10,000
times stronger
than the earth's
gravitational pull,
or 500 times
stronger than the
average
refrigerator
magnet. The
machine weighs
about 20,000
pounds and is
approximately
13 feet wide
and 16 feet tall.
“There are
only three or
four of these
Int er ior of a res earch lab.
machines in the
research space from June through
U.S., and we will have one,” said
David Jones, PhD, of
December, according to UCDHSC
pharmacology. “This magnet will
Vice Chancellor for Research John
Sladek, PhD. “The moves have been
going pretty smoothly for the most
part,” Dr. Sladek said. He explained
that he moved his research lab to
the new complex in June, so he
could be one of the first faculty to
move and could experience any
glitches firsthand.
“I didn’t find any problems with
the building or the move,” Dr.
Sladek commented. “But we do
need to work on the quality of life
issues out here, and add more
restaurants and parking on the
campus. I would really like to see a
place where faculty from all the
n
schools can mingle.”
Southe rn v ie w of cour t yard from inte rior.
Mike Cobb
Each floor that houses labs and
offices has a similar design -offices and dry labs are on the west
side of the building while wet labs
are on the east side. The offices on
each floor share a conference room
and break room, which are
designed to promote interaction
between researchers. The wet lab
side of the building has restricted
public access. Each building also
has a biosafety lab, which requires
separate air systems, filters and
silicon seals and a higher level of
security.
Core research facilities are
clustered in the complex to make
them easily accessible to
researchers. Twenty-two core lab
facilities are housed in Research
Complex 1. They include
cytogenetics, DNA sequencing,
DNA array, mass spectometry, flow
cytometry, immunology, electron
microscopy, X-ray crystallography,
nuclear magnetic resonance,
radiological sciences, tissue culture,
tissue procurement, protein
chemistry, biophysics core,
stem-cell core, transgenic core,
biophysical core, radiological
23
24
cme calendar
CU School of Medicine
Office of Continuing Medical Education
CME calendar May through December 2005
MAY 2005
JUNE 2005
AUGUST
12-13
Advanced Obstetrical
Ultrasound
J.W. Marriott Cherry Creek
Denver, CO
26-July 1
51st Annual Family Practice
Review
YMCA of the Rockies – Estes
Park Center
Estes Park, CO
3-5
30th Annual Psychiatry
Conference
Preparing for Change:
Philosophy & Techniques of
Motivational Interviewing
Given Institute
Aspen, CO
26
Alumni Reunion Weekend
– The Obesity Epidemic:
How Should We Respond?
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
2nd Floor Lecture Hall - CU
School of Medicine
Denver, CO
The Nature of The Obesity
Epidemic, Causes and Public
Health Approaches to
Addressing It.
James O. Hill, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and
Medicine
Director, Center for Human
Nutrition, CU School of Medicine
Popular Diets and Successful
Losers
Vicki Catenacci, MD
Instructor and Fellow, CU School
of Medicine
- Break for Lunch Learnin' to Be Doctors: Early
Days at CU School of Medicine
Robert H. Shikes, MD
Professor and Vice Chair,
Department of Pathology and
Lecturer in Medical History, CU
School of Medicine
Pharmacotherapy and Surgical
Treatments
Dan Bessesen, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Chief of Endocrinology, Denver
Health Medical Center
JULY 2005
17-22
41st Annual Internal
Medicine Program
YMCA of the Rockies – Estes
Park Center
Estes Park, CO
12-15
Practical Ways to Achieve
Targets in Diabetes Care
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, CO
SEPTEMBER
22-24
10th Annual Genetics &
Ethics in the 21st Century
Given Institute
Aspen, CO
25-29
32nd Annual Renal Disease
& Electrolyte Disorders
Course
Given Institute
Aspen, CO
31-August 4
7th Annual How to Practice
Evidence-Based Health Care
Workshop
Keystone Resort
Keystone, CO
15-17
Fall Orthopaedic Summit on
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Keystone Resort
Keystone, CO
23-24
9th Annual Ophthalmology
Symposium
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Bldg – Fitzsimons
Aurora, CO
OCTOBER
31-November 4
51st Annual Family Practice
Review
CU School of Medicine Denison Auditorium,
Denver, CO
For more information, visit www.uchsc.edu/cme; e-mail [email protected];
call 1-800-882-9153 or 303-372-9050; or fax 303-372-9065
president’s message
M
March 17th was Match Day for CU School of Medicine’s Class of
2005...a great milestone for our students, probably as important
as acceptance into med school, and perhaps even graduation. For
many students it is the first step in a career that takes them away
from CU. (Please see Dean Maureen Garrity’s article on page 33
for a detailed description of the class and where they are headed.)
The Match Celebration was a splendid affair at the Pepsi Center
in downtown Denver -- a long way from my class’ match day at
the old Celebrity Sports Center. Most of us stopped thinking
about our medical school when we left to begin our careers and
start our families. I didn’t think about it until I was invited back
to my five year reunion.
If the good old days of medical school haven’t crossed your
thoughts lately, I want to encourage you to start thinking about our alma mater and “our”
students, future fellow alumni. Each year we “pass the torch” to new graduates, welcoming
them into the ranks of our profession. They build on traditions we upheld and sometimes
broke, in order to make our School a better place.
Matthew Goodwin, MD
Class of 1987
M E S S A G E
Sincerely,
S
What can you do? Join us for Reunion Weekend and Commencement activities, Thursday
through Saturday, May 26-28, 2005. Attend an excellent CME program, tour the new
campus, visit the old campus classrooms and labs, enjoy a great meal with friends at the
Silver and Gold Awards Banquet and come to graduation. Meet students, old friends,
faculty and staff. Be sure to ask lots of questions. I also encourage you to get active in
your Alumni Association. If you want to get involved please contact the Alumni
Association Office at 1-877-HSC-ALUM.
’
As President of the CU Medical Alumni Association, I want to assure you that we are
committed to programs and projects which support our students and our School. We
continue to provide stethoscopes to every incoming student, plan graduation and reunion
activities, coordinate alumni host homes for students who are traveling for interviews and
facilitate student activities. And we are trying to help grow support for our School in a
time when traditional funding is slowly disappearing. Our new medical campus at
Fitzsimons won’t be complete until we have our students there. Our students deserve to
have the best we can offer them not only in the quality of their education and training, but
the quality of their lifestyle.
P R E S I D E N T
Greetings Alumni!
25
13
N O T E S
class notes
C L A S S
26
1930 S
*Helen McCarty Fickel,
MD, ’32, Berthoud, Colo., is
still enjoying life at ninetyseven years with her five greatgrandchildren.
1940 S
Donald L. Becker, MD, ’46,
Port Aransas, Tex., retired in
June of 1987 after a career as a
pathologist in Casper, WY.
*Murray S. Hoffman, MD,
’47, Denver, Colo., is now
enjoying his second retirement
– initially after many years in
the private practice of cardiology in Denver – and
subsequently after ten years as a
faculty member in the division
of cardiology at the University
of Colorado Hospital. Dr.
Hoffman and his wife, Eleanor,
divide their time between the
Maine Coast and Denver.
*Edward B. Liddle, MD,
’46, Colorado Springs, Colo.,
was the first board-certified
thoracic surgeon in Colorado
Springs – and at that time
(1957) the only one between
Denver and Alburquerque. He
has been retired from practice
for the last 17 years. Dr.
Liddle just celebrated his 60th
wedding anniversary on
December 28th, 2004.
Vernon M. Lockard, MD,
’45, Bartlesville, Okla., was
awarded the Paul Harris
Fellow (Award) from the
Rotary International
Foundation. This award is
presented for “recognition of
exceptional service" in support
of the work of the Foundation.
*William J. Robb, MD, ’43,
Steamboat Springs, Colo.,
practiced in Iowa until 1993
and recently moved to
Steamboat Springs.
1950 S
*Ronald L. Annala, MD,
’58, Ruidoso, N.M., was
awarded “Physician of the
Year” in 2003 by the New
Mexico Chapter of the
American Academy of Family
Practice (AAFP). After 45
years of practice, 42 of those
years in Ruidoso, N.M., Dr.
Annala retired on October 31,
2004. Now, he says, he can ski
whenever he wants to.
*William G. Davis, MD,
’54, Honolulu, Hi., wrote to
tell us he had a great (!) year –
open heart bypass in June,
removal of duodenal
obstruction in August, and
replacement of pacemaker in
January. Best part of the year,
he tells us: in December he
became engaged to Caroline
Bond. We send best wishes for
good health and a happy
marriage!
*P. Walter Ford, MD, ’51,
Bend, Ore., retired from
Family Practice at Bend
Memorial Clinic in Bend, Ore.
in 1986. Since April of 2004
he has worked as a volunteer
with Volunteers in Medicine
(VIM), a group of retired
physicians who care for
patients who have no health
insurance or money.
*Ira J. Gelb, MD, R-’55-56,
Boca Raton, Fla., was
successful in initiating a new
medical school in Boca Raton.
The University of Miami
School of Medicine at Florida
Atlantic University opened
August 9, 2004. Dr. Gelb is
currently Adjunct Clinical
Professor of Medicine at
*Indicates CU Alumni Association member.
Mount Sinai School of
Medicine and Adjunct
Professor of Medicine at WeillCornell School of Medicine.
*Theodore D. Hiatt, MD,
’53, San Rafael, Calif.,
published The Power of Kings,
a treatise on political economy
that traces the origins of
combined political and
economic power, which Dr.
Hiatt asserts has always
resulted in the division of
societies into a wealthy ruling
class and a disenfranchised
poor class. His treatise
suggests corrections.
*Dick Momii, MD, ’53,
Denver, Colo., enjoys downhill
skiing in the Winter, gardening
and golfing in the Spring and
Summer, and mushroom
hunting in the Fall. He visits
children, Keith and Paula in
Texas and son George, a
radiologist who lives in Las
Vegas and still maintains his
Colorado Medical License.
1960 S
D. J. Beasley, MD, ’66,
Boulder, Colo., received the
Boulder Daily Camera’s 2004
Boulder County Gold Peoples
Choice Award – Runner Up
for Best Doctor.
Glenn G. Dudley, MD, ’69,
Newbury, N.H., is enjoying
retirement in New Hampshire
with lots of skiing and hiking.
He is also writing and
published Infinity and the
Brain in 2002. He writes that
a more “user-friendly”
summary of the book and a
downloadable PowerPoint
slideshow is available on
www.GlennDudley.com.
class notes
Robert W. Gaubatz, MD, ’65,
Bellingham, Wash., is now practicing
geriatric medicine at the St. Joseph
Hospital's Center for Senior Health
in Bellingham. The Center has a
hospital sponsored clinic to serve
the underserved Medicare
population and our patient’s ages
range from 65 to over 100. He is
sorry to say that he will miss this
year’s reunion as he is traveling at
during that time.
1970 S
*Gregory Higgins, MD, ’78,
Chico, Calif., was recently elected a
Fellow of the American College of
Emergency Physicians. In his spare
time, Dr. Higgins and his wife run a
cat sanctuary on their 8 acres of
land after rescuing feral cats that had
overrun a city park in Chico. This
year he plans to complete ascents of
the last remaining state high points
– a goal he set while attending
medical school in Colorado.
1980 S
Jodi Chambers, MD, ’84,
Breckenridge, Colo., was appointed
chief medical office for St. Anthony
Hospitals in February 2005. Board
certified by the American Board of
Surgery in critical-care surgery,
Dr. Chambers is a Fellow in the
American College of Surgeons, The
American College of Physician
Executives and the Southwestern
Surgical Congress.
*Dell A. Keys, MD, ’82, Moab,
Utah, is a member of the U. S. Army
Reserve at the 328th Combat
Support Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Keys was mobilized and reported
for duty in February to Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in
Germany.
*Rosalyn Knepell, MD, ’82,
Colorado Springs, Colo., retired
from her practice in January 2005
because of health reasons. She plans
to live in Colorado Springs and still
enjoy the mountains.
*Constantine Saadeh, MD, R’89, Amarillo, Tex., moved to
Amarillo after completing his
Fellowship at UCHSC and became
the Regional Chairman of Internal
Medicine at Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center, a position he
held until 1998. He is now in
private practice at Allergy ARTS and
Amarillo Center of Clinical
Research. Dr. Saadeh won the Jim
Henson Award for small business of
the year in 2004.
1990 S
*Janet Basinger, MD, ’93, Monte
Vista, Colo., Ian, her son born
during her 2nd year of medical
school is now 14 years old and Evan,
born two months before graduation
is now nearly 12 years old. Dr.
Basinger is currently practicing
medicine in the beautiful San Luis
Valley of southern Colorado.
*Thomas A. Herzog, MD, ’95,
Pueblo, Colo., married May 30,
2004. He and wife Paula expect a
baby girl in April 2005.
Linea A. McNeel, MD, ’90,
Galveston, Tex., was President of the
Galveston County Medical Society
this past year and was recently
appointed Clinical Assistant
Professor and Medical Director of
an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit.
Craig G. van Horne, MD, PhD,
’92, Brookline, Mass., was appointed
chief of neurosurgery at Caritas St.
Elizabeth's Medical Center.
Previously Dr. van Horne had been a
visiting scientist at McLean Hospital
and instructor in neurosurgery at
Brigham and Women's and
Children's Hospitals. Dr. van Horne
is a member of the Society for
Neurosciences, the American Society
for Neurotransplantation, the
American Association of
Neurological Surgeons, and the
Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
Dr. van Horne's clinical research has
been published in a number of
leading medical journals, including
The New England Journal of
Medicine, Experimental Neurology,
Brain Research, The Journal of
Pharmacology and Experimental
Therapeutics, Advances in Neurology,
Experimental Brain Research, and
Cell Transplantation.
2000 S
Lynn Bentley Davis, MD, ‘00,
Bainbridge Island, Wash., and her
husband are taking this year to
travel abroad, primarily in Southeast
Asia. After graduation, Dr. Davis
and her husband moved to Boston
for her residency in Ob/Gyn at
Brigham and Women’s Hospital,
which she completed in June 2004.
They then decided to take some
much needed time off to travel and
explore the world. Since September
of 2004 they have visited Hong
Kong, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Sri
Lanka and Cambodia. Before they
return home in May or June 2005
they’ll visit Vietnam, Laos, Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New
Zealand and with luck, the Cook
Islands. They are keeping a travel
log on the web at
www.davisworldtour.com if you are
interested in seeing their pictures.
Starting in July 2005, Dr. Davis will
begin a fellowship in Reproductive
Endocrinology at Stanford.
*Whitney Swanger Kennedy,
MD, ‘01, Denver, Colo., and her
husband Sean welcomed daughter
Quinn Jocelyn Kennedy to their
family. Dr. Kennedy starts her
Family Medicine practice March 1,
2005.
Steven (Eric) Olyegar, MD, ‘00,
Charleston, S.C., is busy planning a
move to Mesa, Arizona in September
after he completes his radiation
oncology residency. Dr. Olyegar, his
wife Karen and their two and a half
year old daughter, Hannah enjoyed
their time in South Carolina but will
not miss the humidity and are eager
to make the move to the Southwest.
27
28
class notes
Douglas G. Orndorff, MD, IN
‘03, Crozet, Va., and his wife
Shanan are proud to announce
the birth of their daughter, Ava S. M. Prather Ashe, MD,
Grace Orndorff. She was born ’43, Denver, Colo., died
November 8, 2004. Ava and
December 2004 after a lengthy
Shanan are both doing well.
illness.
He is currently in an
orthopedic surgery residency
Hirsh E. Barmatz, MD, ’63,
at the University of Virginia.
Denver, Colo., died October
2004. Dr. Barmatz practiced
Ophthalmology in the Denver
area and is survived by his
wife, Alice; his children, Stacy
(Andy) Morrison, Mitzi
Edgar l. Makowski, MD,
(Mike) Camarillo and Heidi
Englewood, Colo. And
Scottsdale, Ariz., professor and (Tim) Parkhurst; and five
grandchildren.
Chair, Emeritus of the
Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology. Dr. Makowski is
Larry J. Findley, MD, ’75,
a Trustee of Perinatal
Loveland, Colo., died June 16,
Resources, Inc., which
2004, at his office. He was 55.
conducts two post-graduate
Dr. Findley brought national
courses per year for over
attention to the Loveland area
500 obstetricians and
with sleep study research. He
gynecologists. He is also
published articles on sleep
teaching part-time in the
studies in nationally acclaimed
Department of Obstetrics
publications including the
and Gynecology at Good
New England Journal of
Samaritan Hospital in
Medicine, the Journal of the
Phoenix.
American Medical Association,
and SLEEP. His career began
in Denver and took him to San
Barry H. Rumack, MD, R’73, Greenwood Village, Colo., Diego, Calif., and
former professor of pediatrics
Charlottesville, Va., before he
and Director of the Rocky
returned to Colorado. The
Mountain Poison Center, has
first sleep lab in Northern
been working as an arbitrator
Colorado opened upon Dr.
for the American Arbitration
Findley’s arrival in Loveland in
Association. Dr. Rumack
the summer of 1991 and he
recently became the mediator
continued to research and
for the University of
publish sleep-related works
Colorado’s Privilege and
until his death. Dr. Findley
Tenure Committee. He
also practiced pulmonary
continues to do research in
medicine in Loveland. He is
Toxicology and Pharmacology, survived by his wife, Deborah;
primarily in the area of
mother, Shirley J. Findley;
acetaminophens and has been children Jonathan, Joseph, and
an advisor to the FDA.
Mary Catherine Findley.
MEMORIAM
RETIRED
FACULTY
Stephen Frey, MD, ’80,
Elko, Minn., died December 1,
2004, in an automobile
*Indicates CU Alumni Association member.
accident. Dr. Frey completed a
family practice residency at the
University of Wyoming and
then spent the next three years
on active duty with the U.S.
Navy in Guam. He returned
to the U.S. and practiced
family medicine in
Washington state and New
Mexico before moving to
Minnesota three years ago.
He is survived by his wife of
26 years, Patricia; children
Nathan, Aven, and Elisa.
Cynthia Kay Hampson,
MD, ’91, died on September
29, 2004, after a three year
battle with ovarian cancer.
Cindy is survived by her
husband, Allan, and their five
children, Chris, Rob, Kate,
Greg and Andrew; as well as
her parents, Felix and Marilyn
Beckman; sister, Debra
Beckman; and brother, David
Beckman. Dr. Hampson was
born in Denver in 1956 and
grew up in Arvada. She earned
a Boettcher Scholarship to
Colorado State University
where she graduated in 1978
with a degree in biomedical
engineering. After marrying
Allan, they moved to Tulsa,
Okla., where she worked for
Oxidental Petroleum for nine
years while earning a master's
in business administration
from the University of Tulsa.
During that time, she had two
children and decided to
become a doctor. In 1991, she
graduated with honors from
the CU School of Medicine
while having kids ages 3 and 4.
After her anesthesia residency,
and one more child, the family
moved to Spokane, Wash.
There she served in the U.S.
Air Force for four years as a
physician and earned the rank
of major. The family moved
class notes
to Fort Collins in 2001 where Dr.
Hampson worked with Northern
Colorado Anesthesia until the time
of her death.
Keith Harvey Harris, MD, ’57,
Phoenix, Ariz., died September 22,
2004. After graduation from medical
school, Dr. Harris completed his
general surgery residency at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City. He
moved to Phoenix to start his
general surgery practice with his
father, Karl Harris, also a general
surgeon. He will be remembered by
his peers, patients, family and
friends not only for his skillful
surgical expertise, but also for his
gentle ways as a man. He and his
wife, Pinky, shared an avid love for
golf, the outdoors and nature. Dr.
Harris is survived by his wife, Pinky;
his brother, Jack; his children, Karen,
Kevin, Christina, and Lisa; and
seven grandchildren.
Darcey Rothman, MD, ’03,
Denver, Colo., died on November
27, 2004. She was in her second
year of neurology residency at the
time of her death. During her
youth, she was involved with the
Colorado Children’s Chorale,
Kidskits, and various other youth
organizations. She was a member of
Alpha Chi Omega Sorority and
various honor societies. She is
survived by her mother, Charlotte
Gillespie; her stepfather, Jim
Gillespie; a sister, Charner Schmidt;
fiancée, Greg Blais and Jack
Schmidt, all of Denver.
Fred W. Schoonmaker, MD, ’61,
Bozeman, Mont., died January 6,
2005. Dr. Schoonmaker served in
the U.S. Air Force and rose to the
rank of Major as a fighter pilot
during the Korean Conflict. After
completion of his military service he
pursued his desire to become a
cardiologist. After graduation from
CU School of Medicine, he
completed his internship at Duke
University Hospital, where he also
did post graduate training, was
Chief Resident in Internal Medicine
and did a fellowship in cardiology at
Duke and at the NIH. He returned
to Denver in 1967 to St. Luke’s
Hospital, where he held various
medical, research and management
positions until his retirement in
1995. He was a founder, member of
the Board of Trustees, and President
of the Rocky Mountain Heart
Research Institute. Dr. Schoomaker
was a member and held leadership
positions in many professional
societies including fellowships in the
American College of Chest
Physicians, American College of
Angiology and the International
College of Cardiology. He is
survived by his wife, Janis; five
children and fourteen
grandchildren.
Brandt F. Steele, MD, Faculty,
Denver, Colo., died January 19,
2005. He was 97. Dr. Steele was
Professor Emeritus of psychiatry
and the Kempe Children’s Center.
An internationally respected
psychiatrist, best known for his
work in child abuse prevention,
Dr. Steele joined the faculty of the
CU School of Medicine in 1958. In
1962, he co-authored, with Dr. C.
Henry Kempe, “The Battered Child
Syndrome,” an article published by
the Journal of the American Medical
Association which provided an
understanding of how to address
and treat cases of child abuse and
neglect. The article is still regarded
by JAMA as one of the 50 most
important contributions to
medicine in the 20th century.
Dr. Steel was instrumental in the
development of the National Center
for the Prevention and Treatment of
Child Abuse and Neglect, now called
the Kempe Children’s Center.
Today, the Center is regarded as a
world leader in the prevention and
treatment of child abuse and
neglect. Survivors include two sons,
Brandt N. Steele and Thomas Steele,
eight grandchildren; and five greatgrandchildren.
Stanley M. Weiner, MD, ’50,
Vero Beach, Fla., died October 7,
2004. Dr. Weiner practiced
cardiology and internal medicine for
30 years in Colorado before moving
to Florida. Survivors include his
wife of 21 years, Becky; son, Larry;
daughters, Debbie and Julie;
stepsons, Drew and Ed Hamrick;
sister, Ruth Perotin; and five
grandchildren.
John Tucker Willson, PhD,
Faculty, Sheridan, Wy., died on
September 19, 2004. Dr. Willson
was a professor of Human Anatomy
at the CU School of Medicine. He
was a member of Alpha Omega
Alpha, published numerous research
articles, and the originator of the
plastics laboratory which formed
teaching materials for the study of
Human Anatomy. The CU School
of Medicine honored him by
creating the “Willson Prize” for
outstanding performance in
Anatomical studies by a medical
student. He is survived by his wife,
Crete, two sons, John C and Robert
Y.; five stepchildren; and 17
grandchildren.
Charles Earl Wood, MD, ’63,
Rogers, Ark., died October 28, 2004.
Dr. Wood served in the Navy and
saw action in the Korean Conflict as
a crew member of the USS Jenkins
DDE-447. He completed his
internship and residency at Denver
General Hospital and established an
Ob/Gyn practice in Casper,
Wyoming, in 1967, which he
operated until 1984. He and his
wife of 44 years, Patricia, lived in
Casper for twenty years, where they
raised their three children, before
moving to Missouri and Arkansas.
Beginning in 1990, he served as a
locum tenens physician, providing
specialized Ob/Gyn care to private
practices and hospitals across the
U.S. He is survived by his wife; son,
Spencer; daughters, Lecia and
Christine; and granddaughter Lily. n
29
C O L U M N
student column
S T U D E N T
30
My Summer in Chilé
by Tyler Green, Class of 2007
A
Among the many
world. Eventually I went
appealing aspects of a
to our alumni association
career in medicine, one
office to request a list of
of the greatest draws for
alumni working in Latin
me has always been that
America. A couple of
it can be practiced
weeks later they sent me a
anywhere; anywhere in
list of about twenty
Colorado, anywhere in
UCHSC alumni working
the US, and anywhere in
in various countries
the world. Ever since I
throughout Latin America.
first decided as an
I then put together a letter
undergrad student that I
and sent it off to the
wanted to go into
doctors on the list letting
medicine, I’ve had an
them know that I was
interest in eventually
looking for an opportunity
working in other
to gain some clinical
countries. I’ve always
experience and practice
seen the opportunity to
with the Spanish language
work in the setting of a
in whatever capacity could
different culture,
be arranged during my
possibly using a different
summer vacation. This
language, as an
turned out to be highly
opportunity for an
productive. Soon after I
added level of
sent out these letters I
A
horseback
ride
toward
the
Chilean
excitement, challenge,
received several responses
and enrichment. So last border with Argentina in the Valle
from doctors offering to
year, as a first year
have me in their clinics or
Elqui, a beautiful area filled with
medical student, I knew vinyards, nice little towns, and
hospitals for the summer.
early on that I would
In the end I decided
surrounded by mountains.
spend my summer break
that I would go to
doing something medically related in a
Valdivia, Chilé to the Hospital Regional de
different country. Since I had recently begun
Valdivia, the teaching hospital affiliated with
to learn Spanish, this would be the perfect
the Universidad Austral de Chilé. Dr. Juan
opportunity to build on that foundation
Carlos Bertoglio, who completed an
somewhere in Latin America.
immunology fellowship at the CU School of
Over the course of the year, I began to
Medicine in 1980 is now a professor of
gather information on various opportunities
clinical medicine at that hospital, had replied
for the summer. I spent many hours reading
to my letter offering to incorporate me into
about the different international volunteer
their introduction to clinical medicine course.
programs available to pre-clinical medical
It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a
students. I sent out a message on an
taste of that international medical experience
international medicine listserve looking for
I had long yearned for. So after our school
contacts. I also attended several lectures put
year ended, and the proper arrangements had
on by our student-run International Health
been made between our administration and
Opportunities Program (IHOP), looking for
theirs, I packed my bags for the summer
contacts through speakers who had done work (winter) in southern Chilé.
in Latin America. I soon came to realize that
In total I spent about ten weeks of the
my fresh knowledge of biochemistry wasn’t
summer in Chilé, and I truly couldn’t have
exactly in hot demand in clinics around the
asked for a better way to spend my summer
student column 31
break. I was assigned to a small
group of four other students. We
met most mornings at 8 o’clock on
the internal medicine ward along
with an intern to practice our
history taking and physical exam
skills with the patients before
practicing our “B-S” skills with the
attending physician who would
arrive about an hour later. When
the students went home for their
winter vacation, I continued to
spend about three or four hours
per day at the hospital, where the
faculty, interns, and patients, made
me feel right at home. Some of my
most memorable experiences from
the hospital come from those few
weeks. I had several long
conversations with easy-going
patients who allowed me to sit
with them and practice my
Spanish, usually beginning with a
medical history and then
frequently moving into more
meaningful conversations about
life in general, our lives in
particular, our countries, our
families, the state of the world,
healthcare, politics, or whatever
came up during the course of these
conversations.
On the
weekends I
enjoyed
visiting other
towns in the
region along
with my
girlfriend
who was also
able to spend
the summer
in Chilé, or
we would
spend the
weekend
hanging out My small group with Dr. Patricio Jimenez on the far
with friends right and the intern Carla in front. Then from left to
in Valdivia.
right: Juan, Armando, myself, Miguel, and Eduardo.
Toward the
end of the
responded to my letter offering to
summer we took a few weeks to
have me shadow them or others in
travel all over the beautiful country their departments. My other
of Chilé. In the end it was difficult reason for writing this article is to
to leave. We had made several
encourage other alumni working
good friends in Valdivia, learned a
around the world to consider
lot about medicine, learned a lot
hosting medical students in their
about the country, and made some hospitals or clinics. Looking back
good progress in Spanish.
on the summer it’s amazing to see
One reason I wanted to write
what a meaningful experience it
this article was to thank Dr.
was on so many levels. The things
Bertoglio
I learned last summer are things I
and the
will certainly take with me
other
throughout the remainder of my
professors medical education, training, and
in Valdivia career.
who were
Every year there are many
so
students between their first and
generous
second years looking to spend their
as to make summers in other countries
this
around the world and to gain some
possible,
clinical experience at the same
and also to time. If you are interested in the
thank the
possibility of arranging such an
other
opportunity for a medical student,
alumni
please contact the Office of Alumni
who
Relations at [email protected]. n
Dr. J.C. Bertoglio immediately to the left of the CT scans
along with his small group.
Y O U
A L U M N I
thank you alumni
T H A N K
32
Thank You CU School of Medicine Alumni!
T
The CU Medical Alumni Association’s HOST
Program (Help Our Students Travel)
organizers wish to acknowledge the following
alumni who participated in this year’s
program by hosting a medical student in their
homes. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Jim Bisping, MD ’02
Gerald Chessen, MD, ’56
Steven Goldstein, MD, ’78 Res
Gerard Graham, MD, ’98
Robert Hada, MD, ’87
Jim Little, MD, ’98
James Mallow, MD, ’67
Haile Mezghebe, MD ’79
Maya Pring, MD, ’97
Susan Regan, MD, ’79
Julie Sands, MD ’90
Jeffrey Seibel, MD, PhD, ’98
Scott Wagers, MD ’95
Mark Swanson, MD ’75
Marie Wood, MD, ’85
Between October and January, 65 alumni
across the country were asked to host a
student traveling during their residency
interview process. We were gratified by the
enthusiastic response to our calls for help. We
placed 6 medical students – some requiring as
many as 10 (!) different accommodations for
the residency specialties they were pursuing –
in alumni homes across the country from
Vermont to California. It’s a good start for
our first year and we hope to double the
number of students placed next fall.
Just a little background on this program:
many alumni may well remember the cost of
interviewing for residency programs hits
medical students at a financially inopportune
time. Juggling interview schedules with their
clinical rotations, students often settle for
higher travel rates for the sake of expediency.
The cost of residency interviews can often
push students beyond their financial means
or may cause students to cut corners in a way
that prevents them from really getting a feel
for a prospective new community during a
quick visit.
The CU-School of Medicine HOST
program’s goal is to help students overcome
some of these challenges by linking students
with alumni hosts across the country. Alumni
hosts provide overnight accommodations in
their homes for the visiting students, and
possibly a spouse. Alumni volunteers may
also offer transportation, home cooked meals,
guided tours of the area and invaluable
professional insight on the regional medical
community and the students’ prospective
medical centers and specialties.
Students also serve as collegiate
ambassadors to medical school alumni across
the country. For many alumni, visiting
medical students provide a link to their alma
mater and to their days as medical students.
Hosting students is one way to “give back” to
their School, while also, through the students’
example, catching a glimpse of the quality of
CU’s medical education.
One of our 4th year students wrote the
following after her residency interviews
concluded:
I just wanted to give you some follow-up on
my alumni host experiences. I stayed with Dr.
Scott Wagers in Burlington, VT and Dr. Haile
Mezghebe in Washington, D.C. Both were
wonderful experiences. I was completely
welcomed into their homes, taken out for
dinner, made a traditional Eritrean meal and
all together taken care of. Both took the time to
talk with me about my career goals and
choosing a residency, although neither is in my
field of interest. Both were also very interested
in hearing about the state of affairs at CU and
asked about faculty and deans they knew.
I think this is a great program and it went
well from both sides. The alumni love to have
contact with young students and hear first hand
our experiences at CU. We in turn get their
advice and perspective, in addition to a place to
stay to defray travel costs.
Thank you for your help in arranging this!
Lisa Dillabaugh, Class of 2005
For more information or to participate in the
HOST program, contact the Alumni Relations
Office, toll-free 877-HSC-ALUM or you may
also register on-line at
http://www.uchsc.edu/alumni
match day
by Maureen J. Garrity, PhD
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
S
Class leaders worked hard on
the venue for the match
celebration. The Pepsi Center
was the preferred site and
thanks to the work of dedicated
students and staff in the Student
Affairs office, contracts were
signed and final arrangements
made. The mother of one of
the class members made
individual cookies in the shape
of a CU buffalo and other
cookies with the School and
date and these were at each place setting in
the banquet room. Helium filled balloons
and flowers
filled the room
as excited and
anxious students
and family
members
arrived. The
envelopes
containing the
match
information for
each student
were placed in
glass coffee
mugs, etched
with the CU logo. Dean Krugman arrived in
time to count down the final minutes and
seconds until 11 a.m. when it was legal for
students to open the envelopes.
And then the long-awaited moment
arrived. Envelopes were ripped open, some
opened tentatively, and the Pepsi Center
erupted with exclamations from students and
family alike. What a joyous moment for all –
students, parents, siblings, children,
administrators and staff members. A day to
be remembered. A total of 128 students
participated in the match; 114 will be May
2005 graduates and 14 others had graduated
earlier. As usual, Colorado captured the
majority of the students with 55 remaining in
the state. California will get 15 of our
students and the neighboring states of
D AY
Shouts and Cheers, Laughter
and Tears of Joy… Was this a
basketball game, a football
game? No, it was Match Day
2005 at the University of
Colorado School of Medicine.
This day was the culmination
of weeks and even months of
anticipation for members of
the graduating class of 2005.
The process had started almost
four years earlier, in August
2001, when the members of the
class arrived for their orientation to medical
school. After two years of intensive studies in
basic sciences, the students started their first
year of clinical rotations in June 2003. As this
year progressed, individual students honed in
on their career choices. Some students had
started medical school “knowing” what they
wanted to do with their life in medicine while
others ended their third year still undecided.
During the summer quarter of 2004, the
students did sub-internships in fields of their
choice and finalized their decisions. Late
summer and into fall was a busy time as
students prepared their residency
applications, sought letters of
recommendation from faculty and scheduled
interview trips.
Many of our students have spouses,
children, fiancés, and significant others and the
needs of their family members are an
important consideration in the final choice of
which residency programs to consider. This is
clearly a complicated process! Students who
were matching in Neurology, Child Neurology,
Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology,
Urology and the Military had an earlier match
process and knew where they would be
spending the next several years in January. For
the rest of the class members, the Rank Order
List was due at 9 p.m. EST on February 23,
2005. Early on that morning, most of the class
had finalized their list, although as usual there
were a few students who remained undecided
until the last minute. Then the lists were in and
the waiting period started.
M AT C H
Match Day 2005
33
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match day
Montana, Utah, New Mexico,
Nebraska and Arizona will host
another 15 students.
A total of 31 students will do
their residencies in Medicine, with
30 in the various subspecialties, 17
in Family Medicine, 10 in
Pediatrics, 8 each in Emergency
Medicine and Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 7 in Psychiatry, 5 in
Orthopedic Surgery, 4 each in
Pathology and Surgery, 3 in
Pediatrics/Neurology and 1 in
n
Family/Obstetrics.
Where Are They Going?
T
These are CU School of Medicine 2005 graduates who are doing residencies next year and the programs they will be
going into:
Anesthesiology
Nicole R. Arboleda, Brigham &
Womens Hospital (MA)
Caleb A. Awoniyi, Univ. of Florida (FL)
Joel L. Bridgewater, Medical Univ. of
South Carolina (SC)
Mindy N. Cohen, CU School of
Medicine
Matthew L. Hall, CU School of Medicine
Matthew S. Koehler, CU School of
Medicine
Allison C. Long, CU School of Medicine
David Morgan, Univ. of Utah Affil
Hospitals (UT)
Andrea Orfanakis, Vanderbilt University
(TN)
Matthew P. Palcso, CU School of
Medicine
Matthew J. Swan, Univ. of Kentucky
Med. Ctr. (KY)
Amber D. Tacke, Univ. of Utah Affil
Hospitals (UT)
Child Neurology
Sita Kedia, CU School of Medicine
Cameron W. Thomas, University of
Cincinnati (OH)
Brandon Zielinski, UC San Francisco
(CA)
Dermatology
William R. Howe, CU School of
Medicine
Megan E. Weber, Mayo Graduate
Programs (AZ)
Emergency Medicine
Elizabeth E. Casner, Carolinas Medical
Center (NC)
Kelli A. Cleary, Univ. of Illinois-St.
Francis Med Ctr (IL)
Charles P. Gillespie, University of
Arizona (AZ)
Aric S. Jorgenson, Carolinas Medical
Center (NC)
Jeremy Newman, W. Virginia University
(WV)
Heather Prouty, Denver Health Medical
Center (CO)
Gina C. Soriya, Denver Health Medical
Center (CO)
Kristin J. Whapshare, Resurrection Med
Ctr (IL)
Family Practice
David S. Adams, Contra Costa Medical
Center (CA)
Raymond Adams, St. Mary’s Hospital
(CO)
James R. Bixler, Stanislaus Health
Services (CA)
Amy Cook, Exempla St. Joseph (CO)
Aaron B. Gale, Exempla St. Joseph (CO)
Jacquelynn M. Gould, Ft. Collins
Family Medicine (CO)
Oswaldo A. Grenardo, CU/Rose Medical
Center (CO)
Jacob V. Greuel, Montgomery Family
Medicine (AL)
Aline Hansen-Guzman, UC Davis (CA)
Korrey D. Klein, St. Mary's Family
Practice (CO)
Kelly E. McMullen, Exempla St. Joseph
(CO)
Deirdre K. McNamer, Montana Family
Medicine (MT)
Valerie S. Prendergast, Alaska Family
Practice (AK)
Bryan K. Reichert, Ft. Collins Family
Medicine (CO)
Kent W. Schreiber, CU School of
Medicine
Christopher Vialpando, St MaryCorwin Med Center (CO)
Rachel L. Yates, Contra Costa Medical
Center (CA)
General Surgery
Shelby S. Best, Naval Medical Center (VA)
Michael A. Heller, CU School of
Medicine
match day
Robert Rhodes, CU School of Medicine
Joel E. Wilson, CU School of Medicine
Internal Medicine
Christina L. Adams, CU School of
Medicine
Lina E. Aguirre, Mayo Graduate
Program (FL)
Dipesh S. Amin, Brown University (RI)
Timothy J. Bedient, Barnes-Jewish
Hospital (MO)
Prashant D. Bhave, UC San Francisco
(CA)
Joseph R. Bledsoe, Univ. of Utah Affil
Hospitals (UT)
Daniel W. Bowles, CU School of
Medicine
Lilia Cervantes, CU School of Medicine
Tom Chau, UC San Diego (CA)
DawnRenee Cinocco, Legacy
Emanuel/Good Samaritan (OR)
Lisa A. Davis, CU School of Medicine
Andrew L. Freeman, Univ. of Utah Affil
Hospitals (UT)
Bryce H. Lokey, CU School of Medicine
Lela Mansoori, CU School of Medicine
Ian Myles, Ohio State Univ. (OH)
Grant Paulsen, Univ. of North Carolina
Hospitals (NC)
Desi J. Penington, Exempla St. Joseph
(CO)
Kristen N. Rice, UC San Diego (CA)
Eric J. Roeland, UC San Diego (CA)
Steven L. Rosinski, Emory University
(GA)
Loretta V. Sullivan, VA Greater LA
Health System (CA)
Jennifer Tamblyn, CU School of
Medicine
Jamie L. Todd, Duke University (NC)
Jeannine S. Wallnutt, Univ. of
Minnesota (MN)
Medicine Internship
Gregory T. Baldwin, Exempla St. Joseph
(CO)
Joshua A. Brauer, CU School of
Medicine
Shayla Orton Francis, CU School of
Medicine
Tracey A. Garcia, Advocate Lutheran
Gen Hosp (IL)
Patrick N. McLaughlin, Univ. of Utah
Affil Hospitals (UT)
Neurology
Laura L. Lehnhoff, Barrow N.I. (AZ)
Allen S. Nielsen, CU School of Medicine
Kirsten M. Nielsen, CU School of
Medicine
Steven Zeiler, Johns Hopkins (MD)
Obstrectics and Gynecology
Elizabeth Brass, CU School of Medicine
Jennifer L. Keller, Exempla St. Joseph
(CO)
Kelley McLean, UVM/Fletcher Allen
(VT)
Torri D. Metz, CU School of Medicine
Michelle Palumbo, SAUSHEC (TX)
Candice C. Park, Good Samaritan Reg
Med Ctr (AZ)
Christina M. Ring, Univ. New Mexico
(NM)
Jennifer A. Scott, B. I. Deaconess (MA)
Opthamology
James A. Dixon, CU School of Medicine
Orthopaedics
Kevin S. Borchard, SAUSHEC (TX)
Orthopaedics Surgery
Ryan C. Koonce, CU School of Medicine
Alex Romero, Univ. of Illinois-Chicago
(IL)
Selina R. Silva, Univ. New Mexico (NM)
Kenneth C. Thomas, Hamot Medical
Center (PA)
Charles M. Jobin, Columbia University
(NY)
Otolaryncology
Amy de la Garza, Univ. of Utah Affil
Hospitals (UT)
Keith Michael Ladner, Univ. of North
Carolina Hospitals (NC)
Michele A. Streeter, Univ. of Kentucky
Med Ctr (KY)
Pathology
Rachel A. LaCount, CU School of
Medicine
Pamela L. Lyl, Penrose Hospital (CO)
Carrie B. Marshall, CU School of
Medicine
Aaron S. Wagner, Orlando Regional
Healthcare (FL)
Pediatrics
Leigh A. Bakel, CU School of Medicine
Sean R. Bennett, Dartmouth-Hitchcock
(NH)
Patrick H. Diaz, Kaiser PermanenteOakland (CA)
Lisa Dillabaugh, UC San Francisco
(CA)
Ashley E. Jones, CU School of Medicine
Dawn D. Kallio, Maine Medical Center
(ME)
Kristine A. Knuti, CU School of
Medicine
Julie K. Linderman, Univ. of Texas SW
(TX)
Kirsten Nelson, CU School of Medicine
Margarita S. Saenz, St. Joseph’s Hospital
(AZ)
Psychiatry
Jonathan Boyer, CU School of Medicine
Rachel A. Davis, CU School of Medicine
Elishia Lintz-Oliva, CU School of
Medicine
Robert J. Long, Loma Linda Univ.
Medical Ctr. (CA)
Julia A. Maximon, CU School of
Medicine
Jason D. McCarl, CU School of Medicine
Ethan D. Swift, CU School of Medicine
Radiation Oncology
Thomas J. Pugh, CU School of Medicine
Radiology-Diagnostic
Alan C. Best, CU School of Medicine
Scott R. Geraghty, University of Virginia
(VA)
Chia-Li Lai, Creighton University (NE)
Jeffrey L. McPherson, Vanderbilt
University (TN)
Christian S. Van Kirk, Sacred Heart
Medical Ctr (WA)
Pooja Voria, St. Vincents Hospital (NY)
Transitional
Glenda B. Robles, Naval Medical Center
(CA)
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match day 2005