04 wint anes alum single pgs - Department of Anesthesiology - Duke ...

DUKE ANESTHESIOLOGY ALUMNUS | 24
Your Letters
Chance and Circumstance
After three exciting years in the Department of Anesthesiology,
chaired by Dr. Jerry Reves, our young family left Durham 11 years ago.
So many things have happened since then, but my memories are such
that it seems as if it was yesterday. It was indeed an exciting time at
Duke!
I started as a research associate in the Cardiopulmonary Research
Laboratory of Bruce J. Leone, where I assembled lots of measuring
devices, learned how to get the big gas tanks into the laboratory before
getting to do all the experiments, cleaning the laboratory, and analyzing
the data. I learned that research is never easy, but that when you try
hard enough there is always a way. It was also an exciting time because
Gaby and I married in 1990 in Durham and Stéphanie was born in 1991
at Duke (of course!).
At Duke, I got the opportunity to learn how to plan research protocols,
how to analyze data statistically from Dick Smith, who unfortunately
died a few years later, and how to apply for grants. More importantly,
I realized how important research is for the development of an anesthesia
department, what vision this manifests, and what richness lies in
an international group of researchers and scientists.
The “Duke Way”
I arrived at Duke in 1980 after completing a portion of my internship
at the University of Louisville. Dr. Merel Harmel had assembled a
department that included many former department chairmen and
would produce many more. From these fine physicians, I learned the science
of anesthesiology and the art of practicing medicine. Their breadth
of expertise and interest would allow my anesthetic practice to include
all aspects of perioperative care. Then, as now, good faculty produce
good residents and physicians.
Role models were everywhere. Dr. Harmel would scold us similarly
whether we failed to RSVP to a departmental invitation or failed to note
pertinent anesthesia history during a discussion. Dr. Phillip Bromage
would lean over your shoulder during an epidural and say “Let daddy
show you.” Dr. Stan Weitzner always made safety come first. Residents
learned that it wasn’t enough to know ‘how.’ We were expected to
understand ‘why’ and ‘when.’ Being a physician required more from us
personally as well as professionally. We interacted with fellow residents
such that even when we disagreed we could still go out to dinner together
later.
After I had been an assistant professor for a few years, I remember
asking Dr. Redick about leaving academics and going into private prac-
All of this lived and lives at Duke, and it cannot be by chance that
today so many of the Duke alumni return to continue to work in a truly
stimulating environment. No, this cannot be by chance. In 2004 I will
send my first fellow to Duke. Though I have no plans to return at this
time, I will, however, never forget the exciting time at Duke. Meeting old
friends at the anesthesia alumni reception is still the most important
motivation for me to participate at the ASA meeting each year.
So, see you in Las Vegas in 2004!
Donat Spahn, MD, FRCAD, continues to
work in academic medicine as professor
of anesthesiology. He was
appointed chairman of the
Department of Anesthesiology at
the University of Lausanne,
Switzerland, in 2001.
Ch de Champagne 14
St. Sulpice, Switzerland CH 1025
Office: (41) 21 314 20 07
E-mail: donat.spahn@chuv.hospvd.ch
tice. He told me that in the final analysis, it’s really all about the
patients. I’ve been in private practice eighteen years now, and I still
find myself considering the “Duke Way.” Even with the ever-present
production pressure, safety still comes first. I still need to know why a
particular therapy or technique works, not just how. My wife and I are
just as likely to entertain my surgical colleagues as my anesthesia
partners.
It remains true that the seeds for a successful and satisfying career
are sown at Duke with the “Duke Way.”
Steven Lipson, MD, has been in the private practice of anesthesiology
for the past eighteen years. During the last four and a half years,
he has acted as director of pediatric services at the Dupont Surgery
Center, a free-standing ASC in Louisville, Kentucky.
2805 Alta Vista Place
Louisville, Kentucky 40206
Home: (502) 897-0711
E-mail: sflipson@iglou.com