Learning Medicine in Ann Arbor, Then and Now

As one of the more ancient relics of the University of Michigan Medical School, I wonder if I might be allowed to make a suggestion regarding the content of your excellent magazine, which I have been reading for as long as it has been published.

While I appreciate the importance of research to the Medical School, and enjoy the superb articles on this subject in your pages, I cannot help feeling that the teaching aspects of the work of the Medical School could be covered to a greater extent; articles on the present curriculum, up-to-date methods of instruction, daily life of students and residents, plans and photographs of the medical campus, contributions from students and so on, would give those of us who cherish memories of our days at Ann Arbor an idea of life as a present-day medical student.

James T.W. Robertson
(M.D. 1973)
Lincolnshire
United Kingdom

P.S. Regarding the date of my graduation from Michigan's Medical School: I was a member of a group of some 80 third-year medical students selected from all the medical schools in Britain by the Rockefeller Foundation between 1941 and 1943 to study at a variety of universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. The purpose was to preserve a sort of "heritage bank" of British medicine in the event of a German invasion and occupation of Britain. At the end of our courses we were to return to our parent universities to graduate, but we could take our American degrees if time allowed. As it happened in my case, a ship became available before the June commencement of 1944, and I did not receive my M.D. until nearly 30 years later, with the class of 1973.

We try diligently to cover all three components of the Medical School's mission — education, research and clinical care — with feature articles on each, as well as news and smaller articles that present a cross-section of the myriad activities occurring within the school and the health system. In a school of this stature and vibrancy, there is, as you can imagine, an ongoing challenge in deciding which of the extraordinary range of great stories to tell. The Fall 2002 issue featured a cover story on the new curriculum (implemented this academic year), and our regular "Moments in Medicine at Michigan " photo feature allows students, residents and fellows, in their own words and from their own perspectives, to characterize the Michigan experience today. In issues to come, we plan "day in the life" features with students and house officers, and articles on some of the revolutions in services offered by Taubman Medical Library, the rising costs of medical education, and the Family Centered Experience component of the new curriculum, in which students follow the health of a particular family throughout the first two years of their medical education. We hope our efforts will convey, to alumni and other readers, what it's like studying medicine in Ann Arbor in the early 21st century.

Depression's High Profile Is a Beacon, but Stigma Persists

I would like to commend our Medical School and Dr. John Greden for establishing the high-profile Depression Center as both a beacon to draw attention to psychiatric illnesses and a place to work at alleviating them. At the same time, I applaud Clare Cross for speaking out frankly ("Letters," Spring 2003) about the discriminatory payment systems, both public and private, which hold hostage millions of Americans, impeding their access to mental health care. For the most part, they are "invisible" because of stigma, which prevents sufferers from talking, or even knowing about, their psychiatric illnesses. But should they seek help, they can't afford it.

Parity legislation at both state and federal levels, eliminating discrimination in both coverage and utilization management for psychiatric (including substance abuse) treatment, whether provided in a specialty mental health or a primary practice setting, should be a top priority of American medicine as well as the public.

Nancy T. Block
(M.D. 1957)
Scotch Plains, New Jersey

Corrections

The Summer 2003 issue of Medicine at Michigan inadvertently omitted the following new residents in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from "Incoming Residents, 2003":

Jason Attaman
Midwestern University
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

Sara Christensen
University of Wisconsin — Madison College of Medicine

Robert Farhat
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

Christopher Lin
Medical College of Ohio

Geoffrey Sultana
Wayne State University School of Medicine

Melissa Tinney
West Virginia University School of Medicine