Personal and literary experiences in the development of an emergency physician☆
Received 1 April 2002; accepted 6 August 2002.
Abstract
The development of Emergency Medicine in the United States has evolved in diverse manners, depending particularly on the societal needs and academic support available in each city and institution. Significant personal and literary experiences are described with regard to the author’s role in the development of Emergency Medicine at Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York City Poison Center in New York City. Critical quotations of literary and philosophic importance for the author are utilized to demonstrate the importance of literature in the development of a philosophy of life, a residency program in Emergency Medicine, a residency program in Medical Toxicology and an academic Department of Emergency Medicine. Critical societal events during the last quarter of the 20th century are related to this personal formative literature and the development of Emergency Medicine.
*Department of Emergency Medicine, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, New York, USA
†New York University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA
‡New York City Poison Center, New York, New York, USA
§Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
Reprint Address: Lewis R. Goldfrank, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Bellevue Hospital Center, First Avenue & 27th Street, Old Administration Building, Room 345A, New York, NY 10016, USA
☆ Presented at the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, March 15, 2002.