Medicine,
46; Football, 5
For Ralph Straffon, another member of the Class of 1953,
the outcome was never in doubt
 "Which
do you want to do — play football or be a doctor?" a
stern Carl Vernon Weller of Pathology demanded of young Ralph
Straffon (M.D. 1953, Residency 1959) one winter day in 1950.
Straffon, a Michigan fullback from 1945-50, was dedicated
to completing his medical education and becoming a doctor.
So, after missing a pathology test in order to play Army
in Yankee Stadium, Weller said that if Straffon wanted to
pass pathology and become a physician, he had to be present
for all the tests. Then came the 'snow bowl' against Ohio
State in Columbus in 1950, played in 21 inches of snow. Winning
this game gave Michigan the 1951 Rose Bowl invitation.
Traveling to Pasadena with the team meant Straffon would
miss a major pathology exam, but the dean intervened. Straffon
passed a thorough oral exam, headed west with the team and
helped make Michigan football history, beating the favored
University of California-Berkley, 14-6.
But Straffon's eye was always on medicine.
"I have no regrets about the career that I chose. Michigan
gave me a great start in medicine and particularly in surgery," Straffon
says.
Choosing urology as his specialty, Straffon helped pave
the way for Michigan programs in dialysis and, ultimately,
kidney transplantation. He spent six months at Boston's Peter
Bent Brigham Hospital training on the artificial kidney machine
under John Merrill, M.D., a pioneer in the fields of nephrology
and solid organ transplant who established the first hemodialysis
program in the U.S. Straffon, together with Jim Pierce, M.D.
(Residency 1958), returned to Michigan to set up the dialysis
program at University Hospital in Ann Arbor.
In 1959, Straffon left Michigan for the renowned Cleveland
Clinic and saw that the possibilities for challenging surgical
experiences were enormous. He progressed steadily in leadership
roles at the Clinic, serving as chair of urology from 1964
to 1983, chief of surgery from 1983 to 1987 and ultimately,
from 1987 until his retirement in 1999, as chief of staff.
"What I'm most proud of, however," Straffon says, "is being
elected to the American College of Surgeons as a regent from
1980 to 1989, and then as president from 1991 to 1992. It
has been the high point of my career."
A couple of rings in a drawer commemorate Straffon's five-year
fullback career and his Rose Bowl participation, but it's
his stellar 46-year career as a surgeon, medical leader and
president of the American College of Surgeons that represents
the wins closest to his heart.
-MBR
ALSO:
Coming
Back to Ann Arbor: 
Life Revisited
The Cross-Body Block
Medicine, 46; Football, 5
|
