News & Publications | Alumni Bulletin | Alumni Bulletin: June 2010

Dr. Cushing gets his due

70 years after the passing of the founder of modern neurosurgery, an extraordinary collection of photographs, drawings, and whole-brain specimens goes on permanent display during reunion weekend.

Also this issue:

Bicentennial celebration nears; discount offered on book
Yale Medicine plans “A Week in the Life”
Alumni feedback on curriculum reform
Yale Medicine: Articles on biotech and alumni career paths

Dear Fellow Alumni,

As spring becomes summer, the rhythms of the medical school have followed their traditional patterns. The third Thursday in March saw the excitement of Match Day as more than 100 students learned where they’d be spending their residencies. The seasons continued their course with Student Research Day in early May, when dozens of students presented their research findings. At the end of the month came Commencement, and the new graduates were welcomed to the alumni family. During the first weekend in June, more than 300 alumni and guests gathered in New Haven to recall old times, and reconnect with one another and with Yale.

Reunion highlights included alumni presentations on “Doctor as Patient” and “When Illness Strikes the Leader,” as well as an academic review on the legacy of pioneering neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing. Alumni were treated to guided tours of the Medical Library, campus improvements, the new Smilow Cancer Hospital, and the 136-acre West Campus. Saturday afternoon marked the dedication of the impressive new Harvey Cushing Center in the library, with a dramatic display of his clinical drawings and photographs and hundreds of whole-brain specimens and memorabilia. For many the traditional class dinners at area restaurants were the highlight of the weekend: fine food and drink with great conversations and renewed friendships.

Photo galleries of all these events can be seen at http://medicine.yale.edu/alumni/events/photos/index.aspx.

The School of Medicine prepares for its Bicentennial

As I mentioned when I wrote to you in March, the School of Medicine will celebrate its Bicentennial during the 2010-2011 academic year, appropriately beginning with the arrival of our youngest colleagues at the August 19 White Coat Ceremony. Festivities will end with a robust Alumni Weekend June 3-4, 2011. In between, other significant events and activities are being planned. On Saturday, October 16, the school’s birthday will be recognized with a community celebration on Cedar Street. (The actual 'birth' occurred during a session of the Connecticut Legislature sometime in late October 1810.) This family-oriented day will provide activities for people of all ages, and I urge those of you who live in the area to circle your calendars for a day of fun. On December 10, the Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra will offer a special Bicentennial performance, including a new work written for the occasion by Thomas Duffy, director of bands at Yale. Many of our regional alumni may find interest in attending various departmental Bicentennial lectures and grand rounds throughout the year, or in visiting special exhibits at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library and New Haven Museum and Historical Society. Another trip-worthy event is the Bicentennial Symposium, a summit on April 28-29, 2011, featuring talks by world-class physicians and scientists.

In recognition of the Bicentennial, a film about the school by award-winning New Haven filmmaker Karyl Evans is in the works, as is an illustrated book, Medicine at Yale: The First 200 Years, by Kerry L. Falvey. You can read more about the book, to be published in November, on the website of Yale University Press at www.yalebooks.com/ysm200. The cover price is $50, but preorders received by July 31 will be discounted to $37.50.

Yale Medicine magazine is also planning to document “A Week in the Life” of the school during the fall and publish a special issue in Winter 2011 with photographs conveying all aspects of life and work at YSM.

We look forward to seeing you on campus at our Bicentennial events! A full calendar of events and celebration details will be posted this summer on our web site at medicine.yale.edu/alumni. Visit the site now to sign up for the email list of Bicentennial announcements.

Online Extra

In between print issues of Yale Medicine, we publish three web-only issues of Online Extra, to bring you more news of the School of Medicine. The July issue will feature fuller reports on Reunion and Match Day. Jenny Blair, M.D. ’04, will provide a first-person account of the month she spent in Borneo at the clinic founded by Kinari Webb, M.D. ’02.

That’s it for now. I will be writing again in the fall with more news. Meanwhile, have a glorious summer!

Harold Bornstein, M.D. ’53
President, AYAM

This bulletin is distributed electronically, via email and the web, to graduates of the School of Medicine. If you did not receive this email directly, we invite you to update your contact information at http://medicine.yale.edu/alumni/ayam/update.aspx.