 |
University of California, San Francisco |  |
About UCSF | |
Search UCSF | |
UCSF Medical Center |
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Sheldon M. Levin, MD receives
Dr. William Schecter, Chief of Surgery at San Francisco General Hospital, introduced Dr. Levin as "a legendary vascular surgeon who trained generations of surgeons and whose fund of knowledge, judgement, and technical skills are qualities to which we all aspire." Originally from Chicago, Dr. Levin attended UCLA and served as a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II. He matriculated at Harvard Medical School, did a residency at Columbia, and came to UCSF in 1958. He still continues to see patients one day a week and regularly teaches third-year medical students. In accepting the award, Dr. Levin reminisced about the extraordinary life and career of his former colleague Dr. Charlotte Baer. He vividly recalled their first meeting in 1960 when Dr. Baer, "a very proper and dignified woman with an air of elegance about her," called him in for a late night consultation on a patient with a severe pain in the left leg. The patient was a high cardiac risk, but Dr. Levin successfully removed a clot from the leg under local anesthetic. "It was one of those golden moments of surgery," said Dr. Levin. "The leg started to warm up and within an hour it was quite clear it would survive. It was magical, an example of what surgery meant to me." "What was particularly striking to me," observed Dr. Levin, "was when I was scrubbing for the operation about midnight and suddenly the door to the OR opened and there stood Dr. Baer, ready to support, and to ease the concerns of her patient." "She was passionately devoted to her patients," continued Dr. Levin. "This was an attribute so outstanding I will never forget it. She had a passion with which I could identify. I love what I do and she loved what she did. And I'm sure it's the passion all of you felt when you applied to medical school." "I would like to tell you UCSF is one of the three or four best medical schools in the country, concluded Dr. Levin. "A very significant part of that reputation belongs to you. Without the clinical faculty of UCSF, this medical school would not hold the position that it has. It is you who deserve credit for your effort with students and residents. It is part of your legacy. Students will remember you all their lives, and residents will remember you. And I trust that you will hold fast to the passion that was exemplified by Charlotte Baer."
Charlotte Baer Memorial Award Recipients
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The Charlotte Baer Award is named for the UCSF clinical faculty member who died in 1973. Baer moved to California after fleeing from Nazi Germany in 1938. Her practice in internal medicine was characterized by a devotion to patients as well as by a tenacity and vigor in the pursuit of obscure diagnostic problems. Her many professional accomplishments included helping to set up the peer review process used by the California Medical Association and Blue Shield. Dr. Baer, who had once been the intercollegiate breaststroke champion of Europe but was not allowed to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics because she was Jewish, also organized a synchronized swimming group in San Francisco.
Dr. Gordon Peacock