archives collection - American Academy of Family Physicians ...

Rardin, Thomas E., M.D. (1907-1972)
1946-1970, 1993
1 slim document case – See also: Photograph Collection
Thomas E. Rardin, M.D., was born in 1907 in Ohio and received his medical training from Ohio
State University College of Medicine. He remained in Columbus, Upper Arlington to be exact,
running a family practice for the next forty-one years (1930-1971). In the late 1930’s, as a member of
the Clinical Faculty of the Ohio State Department of Internal Medicine, Rardin established the first
menopausal clinic in the country. He also created a Department of Audiovisual Education at the
university early in his career while serving as an assistant professor. Rardin then served in the
military during World War II and he again displayed his eye for organization by establishing the
United States Field Service School which trained thousands of medical teams used throughout the
Pacific Theater of War. For his efforts Dr. Rardin was given the Presidential Citation and the Legion
of Merit awards. After his military service Dr. Rardin became involved in organizing on a much
larger scale as a charter member of both the American Academy of General Practice (AAGP) and the
Ohio Academy of General Practice (OAGP). In 1949 he served as the first Chairman of the Scientific
Assembly and later as president of the OAGP. Furthermore, from 1947 to 1969, Rardin was a
member of the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA) Committee on Education, serving as
chairman for eleven of those years. Dr. Rardin was also essential in the formulation of a general
practice specialty board for the inclusion of general practice as a medical specialty, writing the
OAGP’s resolution to the AAGP in 1964. During this period Dr. Rardin managed to be a professor
as well as public speaker, traveling across the country to communicate the need for the twentieth
medical specialty. Somewhere in between speaking and teaching, Rardin also found time to write six
acceptable articles for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which is notorious
for its strict standards on selecting articles for publication. He was presented the Distinguished
Service Citation of the OSMA in 1969 and was also presented with an Alumni Achievement Award
from OSU the following year. Dr Rardin also belonged to the Royal College of General Practitioners
of Great Britain, which was unheard of among American family physicians. His accomplishments
are only amplified by the “personal health catastrophes” that afflicted him constantly and cut his life
short. He died in 1972 at the age of sixty-five. In 1993, Ohio State University named one of their
medical center branches The OSU Thomas E. Rardin Family Practice Center.
The Thomas E. Rardin, M.D. Collection consists of one slim document case. It contains numerous
letters to and from Dr. Rardin as well as several published articles of his including some presented to
JAMA. There are also other writings such as Rardin remarks in support of the OAGP resolution for a
specialty board and why such a board was so needed. A few files contain information on the OAGP
through supplemental bulletins, GP News (which contains articles of other G.P’s), and other
conference materials. There is also a typed speech tribute to Dr. Rardin in 1970 and typed speech
given at the opening of the OSU Rardin Center in 1993.
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