Sunday, August 12, 2007

The Charles H. White Interview

The Charlie White interview is now ready for viewing. It is the first of a series in the Oral History of Medicine in Kansas City project. Go to http://www.myjohnlocke.com/. Select the second website, the one for videos. There are 11 short clips which we think you will enjoy.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Chris Thomas' Little Frog, Big Frog.

It occurred to me the other day, that my life consisted of repeatedly going from big frog to little frog. I guess it is best to start with my childhood and I would have to state that my father was the big frog without any signifcant competition. I would sit there on my little lily pad and wonder if there was any way for me to become a big frog. I kept getting instructions on how to hop, when to hop, and how high to hop. Finally, somewhere in my senior year in high school, I felt as though I might be becoming a big frog. I had made superior grades in my classes and I had lettered in tennis. I felt rather ready to meet the challenge of college.

I arrived at my college in a place where I knew not a single soul in town and I was immediately a little frog again. The pond was a very strange situation and what was required of me was distinctly different than my past pond upbringing and schooling. Well, here I was, on my little lily pond and studying premedical courses. In my junior year, I was accepted to medical school. By golly, I felt like a big frog again.

I arrived at medical school to find out, after a short period of time, that I was again a little frog, if not a tadpole. My God! The bull frogs reminded me, in a deep-throated harrumph, of my status, and the risk of being expelled from the pond. Only much later did I recognize that they were trying to educate me to the perils of the other inhabitants of the pond. At long last, I became a bigger frog with a white coat, rather proud of my position on my own little lily pad.

Then came the internship and residency. I am trying to avoid discussing internship because I was a perpetual little frog to the bitter end. Fortunately, I was accepted to a good surgical residency program and that, at least, made me feel like a frog that might be able to find a more favorable pond. The residency program was not so much a status phenomenon as it was how fast I could hop and how long I could do it. There were a couple of boss frogs that I admired very much. I wrote several papers for the literature with them as co-authors. I felt like a big frog at the end.

From there, I went into the Army for a tour of duty and was promoted from frog to frog captain. I had gained experience for which I was grateful and was ready to venture out.
Then, I entered private practice. Guess what? LIttle frog again. I was told that they did not need my frog specialty in the pond and the usually didn't admit frogs like me to certain frog hospitals. I played the game of lily pad hopping with certain reprimands from officer frogs, brought in new lessons from my frog residency and after a long period felt like a big frog, but a tired frog.

All too quickly, it seems, came the point that I retired from the bigger lily pad I had come to inherit and then, became a little frog again.
......Christopher Y Thomas, Jr, MD




Thursday, August 9, 2007

Interview with Charles H. White, MD

This morning Keith Ashcraft, Jack Stelmach, Sherman Steinzeig, and Chris Thomas interviewed Charley White about his medical career in Kansas City which began in 1929. We got an hour of great video and audio recording. Charley is 102 years old, but very sharp and very articulate. The entire recording will be archived for preservation and a few choice clips will be selected to put on our video website. This is the first in a series for the Oral History project. We had great fun this morning. This is going to be an interesting project of the John Locke Society.
Coincidentally, reporters and photographers from the KC Star visited Charley yesterday and today for an article to appear in next Wednesday's issue (Aug 15). This date is tentative, but keep an eye open for it.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A New Website (Yes, another one)

What? Not another website? Well, since we are setting up websites, we thought we might as well have one for Health4Kids. We don't need it right now, but we will in the near future.
The URL is: www.Health4KidsOnline.com. It will be up and running tomorrow. It is indexed in the reference site: www.MyJohnLocke.com. Just go there and you will find them all.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Editorial Opinions From the Past

After a recent chat with Chris Thomas, I dug out my file of past issues of the Greater Kansas City Medical Bulletin. Did you know that in 1966 it was a weekly publication? By 1969, it had become bi-monthly. Now it is bi-annual, if that. Furthermore, it came free to all physicians in the Kansas City area. It was the communication technology of the time and it was relevant. I especially enjoyed the editorials, all of which I read and some of which I wrote.
Now it is the Internet, especially the blog, that is relevant. Chris and I thought it might be interesting to have another look at some these old editorials and see if they have any interest today. We will be bringing them to you from time to time. If you have any good ones that you have read or written please let us know. Of course, you can always let us know what you think by means of your comments.
So dig out those old files. You will have a pleasant, nostalgic experience.

...Sherman M. Steinzeig