43BA, 51MD

What is your hometown?

Newton, Iowa

What is your official title?

I am a retired Radiologist.  I was the Chief of Nuclear Medicine and Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Peoria.

How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?

I was a naval officer in WWII. While recovering from wounds, and to the insisting of a nurse, who was a conscious observer, I began helping as I healed.  I was the skipper of a Landing Craft Tank in the amphibious corps.

What interested you to pursue a career in medicine and medical education?

My experiences in the war as noted above.  At the time I held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and was in my second year of law school when my orders came through. 

Please highlight your major career achievements, awards, discoveries, etc.

Achieving certification in Radiology and completing a Fellowship in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.  Also serving as the Department Chair of Radiology.  Teaching medicine and nuclear medicine.

How or why did you choose the University of Iowa for your education and medical training?

In my time, it was Iowa City or Ames.  I chose the University of Iowa because medicine or anything “technical” was not even a consideration for me at that point.

What kind of professional opportunities or advantages has your University of Iowa medical training provided?

I discovered when I was competing with the "big schools" in my internship the incredibly high level of teaching at the University of Iowa. Over the years, the name "University of Iowa" became synonymous with achievement.

What still resonates with you today about your training at Iowa?

Its quality was apparent in competition with other (and more famous) programs.  It was as among the toughest of times for me, but the training I received I am most willing to praise.

Please describe your professional interests?

In my retirement, my specialties in their complexity have passed me by. My interest, but little eyesight remains.

What are some of your outside interests?

I enjoy travel, community affairs, reading and spending time with my wide-spread family.

Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?

I always emphasized to students that the quality of our care of patients is first seen in the quality of those they see before seeing you.  Make your staff and peers a reflection of the care and understanding you want to extend to the patient.

If you could change one thing about the health care system in the United States, what would it be?

Defeat ObamaCare – soundly!

What is the biggest change you've experienced in medicine since you were a student?

The bigger and more complex we become, the poorer and poorer the communication becomes.

What do you see as "the future" of medicine?

Medicine is drastically different now than as I knew it – and I fear for it.