From the editor

SECOND OPINION
BY SIDNEY HARRIS

News of my demise is premature

According to the alumni reunion report for the Class of 1960 published in the Autumn 2005 issue of Yale Medicine, Jerrold M. Post, M.D. ’60, led the class in “a brief silence in honor of our deceased classmates,” including me. While I am deeply honored, I am completely undeserving.

My wife, Rosemary, died three years ago. I am running an active research program at the University of Connecticut Health Center. I have participated in the Class of 1959 reunions, since I was closer to them, having taken a year off after the third year to do research before graduating.

D. Kent Morest, M.D. ’60
West Simsbury, Conn.

Dishonest reporting in Vietnam and PTSD

As a combat surgeon in DaNang in 1968, I experienced the Tet Offensive firsthand and saw more carnage than most civilian surgeons see in a lifetime. Cathy Shufro’s “The Unseen Wounds of War” [Autumn 2005] brings back memories—and prompts a few questions.

Dishonest media coverage of Vietnam, specifically the reporting of the Tet Offensive as a defeat of our forces, was the reason our veterans returned to a hostile public.

Did any of Ms. Shufro’s vets mention that our forces never lost a significant battle in Vietnam? Did Ms. Shufro run across data showing that victorious combatants who return to be hailed as heroes suffer less post-traumatic stress disorder than do defeated forces? Could the confusion of returning to be spat upon and subjected to the disrespect and dishonor ordinarily reserved for the vanquished—after defeating the enemy decisively in every encounter—be a factor in the symptoms experienced by those in Ms. Shufro’s group?

Martin L Fackler, M.D. ’59
Retired Col., U.S. Army Medical Corps
Gainesville, Fla.

Chase leaving to study what makes good doctors

In December the medical school’s deputy dean for education, Herbert S. Chase Jr., M.D., announced that he would be ending his six-year tenure at the end of the academic year on June 30. Chase will return to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he spent 22 years before coming to Yale, to continue his research into the kind of teaching that makes a good doctor. “I am interested in looking at physician performance and patient outcomes, and asking whether and how one’s medical educational background influences the quality of a physician’s performance,” Chase said.

Recruited in 1999, Chase was asked to evaluate the medical school curriculum and recommend and implement changes necessary to meet the challenges of a new landscape in medicine. He championed the merging of courses in related disciplines and encouraged a more fluid curriculum that would integrate the basic and clinical sciences over four years of study. As deputy dean he oversaw the revamping of the anatomy course for first-year students; the creation of the Society of Distinguished Teachers to reward outstanding faculty; and the implementation of the Clinical Skills Program, which provides rigorous instruction and assessment during the first two years of medical school. According to Dean Robert J. Alpern, M.D., “Yale has benefited greatly from [Chase’s] commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to the medical students, and we take great pride in Herb’s accomplishments as deputy dean.”

Chase said that credit for his achievements is not his alone. “Whatever was accomplished, was accomplished with great effort by dozens of faculty.”

—John Curtis

From the editor:

A world of connections

This issue’s feature lineup begins with a tale of connections—among Yale alumni and faculty, among doctors and patients and among old school friends. As related by Jill Max, these connections made it possible for a Yale medical student to do research in Italy, and also for her mother in Serbia to receive a critical, life-changing procedure.

For our cover story, “The Virus Behind the Cancer,” Contributing Editor Jennifer Kaylin looks at a different type of connection. She traces the guesses, speculation and discoveries that led scientists to the viruses that underpin about 10 percent of all cancers. Those connections between viruses and cancer could yield clues that will put scientists on the path to vaccines and treatments.

Contributing Editor Marc Wortman donned a jumpsuit and entered the pathology labs to observe an autopsy for his article, “The Final Chapter.” Wortman examines why autopsies are so rarely done, even though it is through the autopsy that all of the patient’s medical history is connected in the last, most complete picture of his or her health.

Finally, in “When Animals Sound a Warning,” Rhea Hirshman explores the connections between human disease and the environment. Her research took her back to Captain Cook’s discovery of Hawaii and the first Italian invasion of Ethiopia. In both instances new creatures introduced new diseases, forever altering the ecology and epidemiology of those lands. That interaction is the focus of Yale’s new Center for EcoEpidemiology, which brings together scientists in both fields.

In the spring of 2004 we asked Amelia Shaw, M.P.H. ’03, who was in Haiti on a Fulbright Scholarship and making a documentary film about AIDS, to write about her experiences. Shaw cautioned us that although she’d interned at National Public Radio, she’d never written a feature-length magazine article. Her first drafts convinced us we’d made the right choice. Shaw’s passion and commitment infused every page of her story [“A Film to Finish,” Fall/Winter 2004].

This spring the Association of American Medical College’s Group on Institutional Advancement seconded our opinion by honoring Shaw with a Robert G. Fenley Writing Award of Excellence for her article. The award, given annually, recognizes outstanding writing. We couldn’t agree more. Congratulations, Amelia.

John Curtis
Managing Editor
john.curtis@yale.edu