Latest / Voices of Otolaryngology / Why History Matters: Archives, Identity, and Innovation in Otolaryngology
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to the Voices of Otolaryngology podcast series, where we spotlight
- 0:05diverse perspectives and insights within the field of otolaryngology.
- 0:08I'm your host, Rahul Shah.
- 0:10Let's jump into it.
- 0:12Welcome to the voices of Otolaryngology.
- 0:14I'm so happy and lucky and blessed today to have my new friend,
- 0:19Doctor James Kearney.
- 0:20Doctor. Hear you.
- 0:21Thank you for joining us.
- 0:22Thanks so much Rahul. It's an honor to be here.
- 0:25And I think you have a fleece on.
- 0:27I saw U Penn there.
- 0:28Tell us a little bit about where you are,
- 0:30where you're affiliated so we can get to know you.
- 0:33Sure.
- 0:33So I am faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.
- 0:37I practice at the nation's oldest hospital,
- 0:40Pennsylvania Hospital, which is part of the Penn Health System.
- 0:43I've been with Penn for 30 years now, and I love it here.
- 0:48I am a comprehensive otolaryngologist, and
- 0:52I am also
- 0:53the vice chair of education for the department.
- 0:56I have a passion for education in addition to my passion for history.
- 1:00And that's what we're going to be talking about today.
- 1:03How looking back to history can drive us forwards.
- 1:06I called you a new friend.
- 1:07Certainly I knew of you.
- 1:09And when I rotated, there is a med student.
- 1:11But you've been very welcoming to me. Thank you.
- 1:14You gave me a tour of the nation's oldest hospital.
- 1:16Which hospital is that?
- 1:17And I bet you far members reached out.
- 1:19You'd walk them around. You're so proud of that hospital.
- 1:22Could you tell us a little bit about the nation's oldest hospital?
- 1:24Sure.
- 1:25So Pennsylvania Hospital is the nation's oldest
- 1:28hospital, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin.
- 1:33So Benjamin Rush, the father of American medicine,
- 1:36was also one of our our founders.
- 1:39It's a terrific place.
- 1:41The original hospital is still standing.
- 1:44The hospital is going to open itself
- 1:48for the 250th anniversary of the country, starting in April.
- 1:52We actually have a museum in the hospital.
- 1:56So anybody who's coming to Philadelphia,
- 1:57I highly encourage you to come in and see Pennsylvania Hospital.
- 2:01We have the
- 2:02original surgical amphitheater, which is fascinating to see as surgeons.
- 2:05There's a large gallery where, back in the day,
- 2:09you could pay your fee and come in and watch surgery happen.
- 2:13Things are a little different nowadays, but, it's fascinating to see.
- 2:18Two highlights.
- 2:19When Doctor Kearney, showed me around, was in the amphitheater.
- 2:23We went all the way up to the top, and the view's amazing.
- 2:26And the lighting is superb.
- 2:27You could certainly understand how is great for surgical education.
- 2:31Can you tell them about my favorite part where I think you're an intern?
- 2:34There you get your name forever memorialized.
- 2:37And some of the names, they're a pretty neat.
- 2:39Yeah.
- 2:39So every intern who has trained at Pennsylvania Hospital
- 2:44has a brass plaque on a wall going all the way back to 1751.
- 2:50And it's a fascinating way of looking at the,
- 2:54the journey of different waves of immigration coming into the United States.
- 2:58You see, the names change from all Anglo type names to
- 3:03you see the different waves of European immigration, and then it opens
- 3:07up to the whole world and the last 50 years or so.
- 3:10So it's just, a great tribute to all those who have rotated here,
- 3:15and it's just a, a great visual to see how many different physicians
- 3:19we trained over the years.
- 3:21I've always loved the rich history of medicine,
- 3:25let alone surgery and definitely otolaryngology and Doctor
- 3:28Kearney you've really amplified that for me in my first role.
- 3:32Can you explain how you serve the Academy as a volunteer leader?
- 3:37Maybe for those members
- 3:38who don't know your capacity over the History and Archives Committee?
- 3:41So I'm the chair of the History and Archives Committee, and our,
- 3:47mission for the
- 3:48Academy is to make sure that we are doing our very best to preserve the history
- 3:52of our great society, through publication and, through encouraging research.
- 3:59We also are the archives portion of things
- 4:02we want to make sure that the, the artifacts that are associated with
- 4:06our specialty are preserved and also available for the membership.
- 4:12Yeah.
- 4:12You, visited us here at the headquarters and spent considerable time
- 4:18on the fifth floor of 1650 Diagonal Road, which is our museum.
- 4:23Take a couple of minutes and talk about that experience.
- 4:26What you saw there.
- 4:27Maybe some of the interesting stuff I can remind you.
- 4:30We had Chevalier Jackson's desk, white gloves, his wallet.
- 4:34We had a lot of books.
- 4:35Please, just reflect on anything and and tell the story.
- 4:38Jim, let people know what's up here.
- 4:40And and you and I had so much fun looking through some of the stuff.
- 4:44You know, I.
- 4:45I will say that,
- 4:47you know, I was always fascinated by the fact that we had these archives.
- 4:51And in my role as the chair of the committee,
- 4:53I thought was really important to come and see.
- 4:56The item that is, I think probably our crown
- 5:00jewel is Chevalier Jackson's desk.
- 5:03It's a beautiful desk in and of itself, but,
- 5:06to actually be able to put your hand on the wood that this, individual
- 5:12who is such a giant in our field actually worked at that desk.
- 5:16That was very moving to me.
- 5:18You and I took a photo of that there, and that's, something that gives me joy
- 5:22to look back on that photo.
- 5:23And tell us about it.
- 5:24You used a word, but I want you to correct yourself.
- 5:26You said he's a giant of our field, but was he a giant?
- 5:32His desk.
- 5:33I don't know if I could get my knees under it.
- 5:36He he was a, a man
- 5:39of relatively short stature, but, but, but a giant in so many other ways,
- 5:44really a someone who was a phenomenal artist, first of all.
- 5:48So you know, someone who could illustrate his own medical work that he did
- 5:54and somebody who also had that kind of tinkerers aspect to him.
- 5:58He worked with the local silversmith in Philadelphia
- 6:02to create his own instruments.
- 6:04So he really invented Bronchoesophagology.
- 6:08In addition to being so proficient in it.
- 6:10Then we found help me.
- 6:12You said that he would have for his light source,
- 6:15or he would have a portable, contraption.
- 6:19Tell me, remind me. And we have that in the academy
- 6:22where his residents would have to carry it around.
- 6:24so we still have the the very old battery cells
- 6:28that were used to power the the light sources that were used.
- 6:33And it's they're incredibly bulky.
- 6:35You know, when nowadays you just take a little,
- 6:38battery operated light source, tuck it into your pocket.
- 6:42Residents were literally lugging around, you know,
- 6:46things were close to 100 pounds in weight with all the, the batteries
- 6:49in order to do this type of work.
- 6:52It's fascinating.
- 6:52When you see the photos of Jackson, there is a designated head holder
- 6:56and all that person did for
- 6:58the day was to hold the patient's head, as Doctor Jackson did his endoscopy.
- 7:03Wow, wow.
- 7:03We've all pulled hook or held hook.
- 7:06I guess you would also hold head head in that time.
- 7:09Any other displays that you remember?
- 7:11And I don't mean to test your memory at all.
- 7:13I love the Women in Otolaryngology section.
- 7:16I love the books that we have up here,
- 7:18and some of the hands on memorabilia and anything else that stuck out to you?
- 7:22I don't mean to put you on the spot.
- 7:24So the artwork that the Academy has is really quite impressive.
- 7:29There's a beautiful portrait of Politzer.
- 7:32And, you know, some of the drawings done by Jackson himself.
- 7:37A lot of them are, chalk on black paper,
- 7:41and they're just esthetically beautiful to behold.
- 7:45Yeah, yeah.
- 7:47Where does the passion for history come from?
- 7:50I think you've had this for decades. Why?
- 7:55I can't really tell you
- 7:55about who I remember being back in high school.
- 7:59I went to a Jesuit high school, Saint Joe's Prep, of which I'm very proud.
- 8:02Yes. vividly remember my freshman
- 8:07Jesuit high school history teacher
- 8:10telling me that, those who are unaware of the past
- 8:14are doomed to, you know, make the same mistakes going forward.
- 8:18So, you know, when you look at the evolution of things,
- 8:22it's really interesting to see the things that fail, the things that didn't work.
- 8:26You know, we can only hear about the successes,
- 8:28but it's really interesting to see the, the failures along the way and you realize
- 8:34why certain things died out and why other things succeeded.
- 8:37So I think it just helps to, give you a sense of where we've been.
- 8:42Yeah.
- 8:42Any time new innovations come out, I'm always a bit circumspect, knowing that,
- 8:47you know, when you look at the life
- 8:48cycle of these things, not everything is going to to work.
- 8:51And you just want to be careful what you're applying to your patient.
- 8:55one thing that's excited me inspired me is you firmly believe.
- 9:00And when I toured Pennsylvania Hospital with you, you shared this belief
- 9:04you like history to be living and touching.
- 9:07It shouldn't be in the fifth floor here.
- 9:10It shouldn't be hidden away.
- 9:11And we'll talk about Tuesday morning at the annual meeting
- 9:15where I attended an amazing session, the paper competition.
- 9:18But talk to you about the traveling museum and some ways that you are trying
- 9:22to get the history of our specialty out to our members.
- 9:29Sure.
- 9:29So we have this terrific museum at our academy headquarters,
- 9:33but I would estimate that probably less than 1% of all academy members
- 9:39will actually walk through the doors and be able to experience that museum.
- 9:44So, so many of our members attend the annual meeting.
- 9:47The idea and this, you and I chatted about this and,
- 9:51you know, you were the one
- 9:53who suggested the traveling museum, which I thought was a fabulous idea.
- 9:57We may have even used ChatGPT.
- 10:00Or perhaps Claude, gave us some,
- 10:03suggestions in terms of ways of getting it out to the membership.
- 10:06But what we want to do is to take some of our treasures
- 10:09and bring them to the annual meetings so that people can look at them.
- 10:13And I'd love for them to be able to actually touch them as much as they can
- 10:18without, you know, creating damage to the, the artifacts.
- 10:22But, you know, these are things that should not be
- 10:25just sitting in a room that no one gets to look at them.
- 10:29If we have these things, then we should make them available to our members.
- 10:33And, you know, these are a part of our collective heritage.
- 10:37Very well said.
- 10:38I was thrilled, with the Chevalier Jackson Traveling Museum this year,
- 10:43and the location was intentionally right on the path.
- 10:47And I saw luminaries, I saw medical students,
- 10:51I saw international members congregating and discussing it.
- 10:55I'm sure you saw it as well.
- 10:56Wasn’t that awesome? That's what we want.
- 10:59It was.
- 11:00And I we got a lot of very positive feedback.
- 11:03It brought people joy and pride in our specialty.
- 11:07And anytime you can bring those two things to people, it's a good day.
- 11:12And you know how I think, Jim, I'm always going to ask you what's next?
- 11:15So that was Indianapolis, and I know you and your committee
- 11:17are thinking about the traveling museum for Los Angeles.
- 11:20I'm not going to hold you to it.
- 11:22Only about 15,000 people will hear what you're thinking, but.
- 11:25Well, what are you thinking?
- 11:27You and I had some really, out there ideas, but.
- 11:31But what are you thinking for LA?
- 11:32And I can tell you some of our out's out there. Ideas?
- 11:35Sure.
- 11:35So because of the location of the House Ear Group,
- 11:40which was so, monumentally important in the development of the cochlear
- 11:45implant and elevating otology, we want to make an otologic focus
- 11:50for our traveling museum in Los Angeles.
- 11:54And we are reaching out to different,
- 11:57groups around the country that have historical artifacts.
- 12:01So not just our own academy artifacts, but if we can get, items
- 12:06that are temporarily loaned to us from other places, we're going to do that.
- 12:11In addition to having a static display, we also would like to have docents
- 12:16who come and speak at scheduled times to help to bring this stuff to life.
- 12:21It's I know personally that if I go to a museum and I walk around,
- 12:25I have one experience.
- 12:27But if I go with a docent,
- 12:28that actually gives me the insight as to these pieces that I'm looking at,
- 12:33it's far more valuable and much more enjoyable human experience.
- 12:36So, we're going to have some docents at scheduled times
- 12:39to give talks and, they'll just be right there by the booth.
- 12:44They're not going to be in a lecture room.
- 12:45They're going to be actually talking about the items on display.
- 12:48And, you know, I think that once someone starts speaking,
- 12:51they'll probably draw a crowd of people that hadn't even thought about it.
- 12:55But yeah, just like happens with the docent in a museum,
- 12:58you know, there's the scheduled tour, and then people start to come and listen.
- 13:01In addition to the scheduled tours.
- 13:03Well, you can call me and coach, I'll be there to start
- 13:07the crowd gathering. What a wonderful idea.
- 13:09And, and some of those docents might be some of your committee members.
- 13:12You have a wonderful committee members that are committed
- 13:15to advancing history and archives.
- 13:17Would you agree with that?
- 13:18A wonderful, cadre of great committee members.
- 13:23We do.
- 13:23We've all broken down into subcommittees.
- 13:25Everybody's active and engaged, and the smaller subcommittees
- 13:29are giving everyone a sense that they're bringing value to the committee
- 13:35In addition - So for the docents, in addition
- 13:38to our our committee members,
- 13:39we're also going to see if we can get some of the giants of our field
- 13:43that, you know, may have been responsible for developing these devices.
- 13:47If we can actually get some of those individuals to come and speak,
- 13:50at the the display, that would be, also one of our goals.
- 13:55Well, let's definitely commit to making that happen.
- 13:57I was just going to interrupt you, but you almost took the thought from my mind.
- 14:01One of the highlights of the annual meeting for me was randomly bumping
- 14:06into Eugene Myers, and I just pulled him and got a recording.
- 14:11But more interesting was talking to him and the evolution
- 14:15that he has seen, not just in meetings, but in education.
- 14:18I'm sure you remember
- 14:19some of those great conversations with some of the icons in our field.
- 14:24Yes, Doctor Myers is truly one of the giants of our field,
- 14:27and someone who, not just through his accomplishments,
- 14:31but also through philanthropy and promoting things,
- 14:36he has an endowed lectureship in our department.
- 14:39So each year we have and it's named for his father, David Myers.
- 14:44So we have the David Myers Lectureship each year.
- 14:47And tomorrow night I'm going to the College of Physicians.
- 14:50There is a talk that's sponsored by a Gene Myers on why doctors write.
- 14:56And a short film was made.
- 14:58We're going to have a film viewing and talk about
- 15:01how doctors express themselves in non-medical, matters,
- 15:06you know, to, you know, to develop their humanity.
- 15:10Wow. Every time I speak to.
- 15:11I learned from you.
- 15:12So there's the lineage is three Doctors Myers.
- 15:15Correct?
- 15:16David.
- 15:17Eugene and Jeffrey, in Texas.
- 15:19At the at the beginning of the David Myers lecture,
- 15:23we always show this photo that has all three generations of Myers.
- 15:27And the one photo.
- 15:29Yes.
- 15:30David Myers was a, chairman
- 15:33of the graduate medical,
- 15:36hospital department of Otolaryngology and also chair at Temple University.
- 15:41So, yeah, there is a very strong lineage in the Myers
- 15:44family of, bringing, greatness to our field.
- 15:48And they've transformed our international outreach
- 15:52and engagement, as you said, through endowments.
- 15:54I wonder, Doctor Kearney, if that short film is something
- 15:58you might even be able to air in the museum?
- 15:59I'll leave it to you to figure it out.
- 16:01I've probably gotten myself in trouble with our meetings team, but,
- 16:04you know, we want to get that out there.
- 16:05It's it's such a treasure trove.
- 16:08Sure.
- 16:09Or, you know it.
- 16:11If we don't, air it in the museum, perhaps we just bring it to the attention
- 16:16of the membership through the bulletin, and we put a link to it.
- 16:20I'm sure there will be something like a YouTube channel.
- 16:22So I always wanted to, bring value to our membership through the bulletin.
- 16:27And, this is something I think that will help all of our humanity.
- 16:31I attended Tuesday
- 16:34morning the resident paper competition.
- 16:37If I'm if I'm using it the right way.
- 16:39Amazing.
- 16:41I was blown away by the residents.
- 16:44I'm sure you are every day incredibly intelligent.
- 16:47But how they took the adage from your Jesuit freshman teacher
- 16:53and what you believe in, they're looking backwards to guide us forward.
- 16:57Can you talk a little bit about the resident competition,
- 17:00how to get involved, maybe call out a highlighter or a winner from this year?
- 17:04I can I remember them if you can, but please Doctor Kearney.
- 17:08Sure.
- 17:09So a lot of the credit for this competition
- 17:12goes to an academy member, doctor Bob Pettit.
- 17:15Bob is a neurotologist who practice out in the West Coast.
- 17:19Was, one of the people very involved
- 17:23in developing the cochlear implants up in San Francisco.
- 17:27Bob and his wife, Dori, very much enjoy coming to the annual meeting
- 17:32and being part of what used to be called the historical society.
- 17:36And so when Bob's wife passed away, he established a foundation in her name
- 17:40and funds a an award for the winner
- 17:43of the resident paper competition through his foundation.
- 17:47So each year we send solicitations out for residents
- 17:50and it's now also open to medical students to submit an abstract.
- 17:54There is a $5,000 prize for the winner, which is yeah, wait a minute, the.
- 18:00Residents getting $5,000?
- 18:03$5,000. What is their mentor get?
- 18:05Jim, can I mentor somebody and get a cut of that undying gratitude?
- 18:11Wow. And, medical students are allowed to participate as well.
- 18:16So we send solicitations out each year to the program directors
- 18:20and ask them to get the word out.
- 18:22We also use the residents and fellows section of ENT Connect
- 18:27to get the word out so residents can submit.
- 18:31We are looking for original research, not just a regurgitation,
- 18:36but we are looking for people that are going and looking at
- 18:39original material to, make sure that the sources are all valid
- 18:45and, looking for topics that are going to,
- 18:48bring interest to the, membership.
- 18:52So the,
- 18:55competition has been going on for about 6 to 7 years now,
- 18:58and the caliber of the submissions is absolutely outstanding.
- 19:04So we had, some phenomenal talks this year,
- 19:07to the point that I believe that you're actually going to use
- 19:11a couple of those speakers to come and talk about innovation going forward.
- 19:16Yeah.
- 19:17May I try to remember one was on the development
- 19:21of the Machida scope and another one that really stood out to me,
- 19:24and I think this one, won.
- 19:25I hope they did,
- 19:26I think it was on oto sclerosis and stapes, the evolution of the surgery.
- 19:30Am I right?
- 19:32That is correct. Yeah.
- 19:34And it's really interesting to see the, the failures that occurred along the way.
- 19:39And then, you know, then there's the breakthrough,
- 19:42the “aha!” moment that that puts things forward.
- 19:45So I think that that was the aspect of the talk
- 19:47that was really, interesting to see how you had to have certain things in place.
- 19:52You had to have microscopes in place.
- 19:54You needed to understand the, the physiology, and then you needed
- 19:58someone who is bold enough to, to actually proceed.
- 20:02Yeah,
- 20:03I'm big into technology and what's around the corner,
- 20:06I think of quantum computing or cyber right now.
- 20:09The solutions that we have now could only exist in this environment.
- 20:13There's been many failures for decades before.
- 20:16Same with artificial intelligence, right, Jim?
- 20:18I mean, they've been looking at this
- 20:19since the 60s and 70s, but you needed computing power.
- 20:22You need the right ecosystem.
- 20:24So the failures from stapes surgery and the Machida
- 20:27scope created the right environment.
- 20:30You know, it's, Malcolm Gladwell,
- 20:33you know, wrote a whole book about, you know, the way ideas spread
- 20:37and how sometimes there are some key individuals that are the connectors and,
- 20:42and build the bridges, the influencers who who drive things.
- 20:47So, you know, sometimes it takes, you look at,
- 20:50the history of trans oral robotic surgery.
- 20:53So, a resident goes out and learns the technique, comes back
- 20:58and shows it to somebody like Greg Weinstein at Penn, who is a master.
- 21:03You know, he's he's got that, systems engineering gene in him.
- 21:07And, and then you have someone like Bert O'Malley,
- 21:10who is someone who is just, fabulous communicator.
- 21:15And you put that together with the HPV epidemic,
- 21:19and all those things come together, and suddenly there's an,
- 21:22you know, truly revolutionary way of addressing oropharyngeal cancer.
- 21:27Very, very well said.
- 21:29So we
- 21:33you and I were excited
- 21:34by the presentations, and we have the ENT Innovation Connection
- 21:38and we both were ideating saying if we want to move forward,
- 21:41we have to look backwards.
- 21:43So we were going to pick some of those
- 21:44from that resident research competition, as you said, Jim.
- 21:48So really, really appreciate that.
- 21:50And we'll do that next year again at the annual meeting.
- 21:52This is an annual doctor Pettit has has, endowed this?
- 21:57Yes. And, you know,
- 22:00hopefully Bob will fund this ad infinitum.
- 22:04So it really is.
- 22:05Yeah, the prize is certainly something that, drives
- 22:09people's interest and gets a lot of submissions for us.
- 22:13And, you know, with the opening up things to medical students,
- 22:17we all know that our medical students are highly, highly productive.
- 22:20They are very,
- 22:21motivated to do a lot of research to get into our, our great specialty.
- 22:26And we have individuals that have a little bit more time
- 22:30than residents who are also going to be putting time and effort into this.
- 22:33So, it's going to yield
- 22:35great things for us, documenting the history of our specialty.
- 22:38Yeah, exactly.
- 22:39Very, very well said. Much gratitude to him.
- 22:41And that was a phenomenal session.
- 22:43I do look forward to it next year I have two more questions for you.
- 22:47What's been your biggest historical find?
- 22:50Whether it's in otolaryngology, whether it's walking around
- 22:53a Pennsylvania hospital, you showed me some amazing
- 22:55stories and artwork, but what's been one- I mean, you mentioned
- 22:59Chevalier Jackson's desk, but you don't have to have found it.
- 23:02But what's been like the coolest thing for you?
- 23:04In history, mind, let me tell you mine so I can give you a little second
- 23:08to think about.
- 23:09I was rotating as a medical student at UPenn from Boston University,
- 23:13and there was a patient I saw with director doctor Gary Weinstein.
- 23:17And this patient was he had a laryngectomy, the longest in history.
- 23:24And Chevalier Jackson had done it when the kid was a little boy.
- 23:27So I went to the library at UPenn, the archives, and found
- 23:32the chapter that Doctor Jackson had written about this patient.
- 23:36And then we saw him 70 years later.
- 23:39Amazing.
- 23:39Amazing to me that that changed my trajectory
- 23:43just as the Jesuit professor changed yours.
- 23:45But what's been your coolest find, whether you've discussed it or not?
- 23:51So I'm the chair of Otolaryngology of Pennsylvania Hospital,
- 23:54and this department and and and division status
- 23:58goes all the way back to 1897.
- 24:01And the person who served from 1897 to 1930 was a guy
- 24:06named Francis Packard, who was also very interested in history.
- 24:10And he kept a diary.
- 24:13And the Pennsylvania Hospital Archives have the diary.
- 24:17I've read his diary. It is fascinating.
- 24:20You know, he goes on and on about his friends like,
- 24:25Templeton, who's descendant developed the heart lung machine.
- 24:30Penrose who, you know,
- 24:32the Penrose drain that all of us used was one of his friends.
- 24:36A lot of the people whose names are applied to surgical instruments
- 24:40were people that he went to medical school with and hung out with.
- 24:44It's, fascinating to watch as things evolve.
- 24:46Eventually there's a telephone and the boy from the hospital
- 24:50no longer has to run to get him.
- 24:52When it's time to come to the hospital for an emergency,
- 24:55you know, is a telephone that, they can use to reach him.
- 24:59He he kind of wanders through
- 25:03different specialties before he settles on otolaryngology,
- 25:08and it's it's interesting, too, because he talks about the things he tried
- 25:12and didn't like.
- 25:13And then he finally decides on otolaryngology, and he really thrives.
- 25:18He, develops otologic instruments.
- 25:21He's, someone who's part of the American Laryngological Association.
- 25:27Somebody here with this very, actively engaged
- 25:30in our specialty and also in documenting the history of medicine in general.
- 25:35Very cool.
- 25:36And that was before, I think the ACGME
- 25:39put out their study on medical education, I believe.
- 25:42Right.
- 25:43He trained in the era that was I forgot what that study was in the 40s or 50s.
- 25:47Right. The landmark study, the - The Flexner Report.
- 25:49Thank you.
- 25:50Which really fundamentally changed things for the better in medicine.
- 25:55But up until then, it was, a bit of a free for all in terms
- 25:59of, you know,
- 26:00you just hung your shingle out and maybe declared yourself as a specialist.
- 26:03Maybe you went to Europe to get some training, but, really
- 26:07very different time.
- 26:09And how long have you been the chair of Pennsylvania Hospital?
- 26:13I've been here at Pennsylvania Hospital as,
- 26:16first the division chief and then the chair
- 26:18going all the way back to 2004, or my predecessor was a guy
- 26:21named Joe Atkins, who was third generation physician.
- 26:25His father was also an otolaryngologist through Penn.
- 26:30So Joe and his father worked here for decades.
- 26:34Joe was the, division chief for 30 years before me and poor
- 26:38Joe just suddenly passed away in 2004, and I was thrust into the position.
- 26:43And I've been doing it ever since.
- 26:45I'll give you a moment to think about it.
- 26:47People know I don't rehearse these podcasts.
- 26:49You don't even know what I'm going to ask you. I don't even know.
- 26:51So let's go back from Doctor Packard to Doctor Atkins.
- 26:55Do you think we could do that? Could you do that for us?
- 26:57So there's, Doctor Tierney, then Doctor Adkins, then there's a gap,
- 27:01and then Doctor Packard, do you know the gap?
- 27:03I don't know, do you know who the prior chairs were?
- 27:06I have tried very hard, but,
- 27:09Packard was someone
- 27:12who documented everything.
- 27:15And then there's almost like a, like I there's this gap
- 27:20from 1930 until 1974.
- 27:23I've been able to find virtually nothing about,
- 27:26who the leaders were during that era.
- 27:30Well, you're the man for it.
- 27:31If you can't find it, we're never going to know.
- 27:33So, it's always fascinating, so.
- 27:37Oh, sorry. One more question.
- 27:38I could go on forever. What
- 27:41parallels do you
- 27:42see from Doctor Packard's writings to where we are now?
- 27:45Maybe just just 1 or 2 where you're like, oh, my God, I can't believe in 100 years
- 27:49we haven't evolved or wow, they have the same problems.
- 27:52Maybe scope of practice or, reform or payment
- 27:56or have and have nots where you say, oh my gosh,
- 27:59it's the same 100 years.
- 28:03So, you know, there
- 28:05there was virtually no regulation back that.
- 28:08And it's that's the thing that's so striking.
- 28:11When he wants to try something, he just does it.
- 28:14You don't need an IRB.
- 28:17There's nothing is approved by an FDA.
- 28:20You can just go ahead and do things and, you know,
- 28:23it's it's, a highly regulated environment that we're in right now.
- 28:27You know, we're like the the airlines, you know, where, very much safety focus.
- 28:33But there's a lot of regulatory burden that comes with us.
- 28:36That's the thing I find most striking.
- 28:38There is a show on Cinemax called the Nick
- 28:43which I would highly recommend to surgeons.
- 28:47It's, it's, two season
- 28:50series about loosely based on Halsted, and and you really see how,
- 28:55you know, surgeons are evolving
- 28:57and trying different techniques, but there's, there's no regulation.
- 29:01And sometimes patients pay the cost of that.
- 29:03But it was an era where there weren't great alternatives.
- 29:07So maybe that was okay.
- 29:08But nowadays our
- 29:10our standards are so high that, you know, it's a blessing and a curse.
- 29:14Yeah.
- 29:15End you with one final question.
- 29:18Maybe a call to action for us to be engaged again.
- 29:22So much gratitude for you for bringing me under the wing.
- 29:25I love history, but you've shown me in my role
- 29:27how we can partner together to amplify it for our members and for our future.
- 29:31So I ask you for 15,000 listeners, 15,000 members, what can we do, Jim?
- 29:37What can we do as otolaryngologists
- 29:39to ensure the legacy of our specialty is preserved?
- 29:43Whether I'm in a community setting, whether I'm in a major academic setting.
- 29:47Give us some tangible things, Jim.
- 29:50So I just want
- 29:51to talk also at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by a guy named
- 29:55Stephen Fried who has written a book about Benjamin Rush.
- 29:59Now, Stephen Fried is a journalist.
- 30:01He's not somebody who's a trained historian,
- 30:04and he calls himself a citizen historian.
- 30:08So he is going and looking at original material
- 30:13and just using his brain and common sense, and has written a spectacular book
- 30:19about Benjamin Rush, very compelling speaker,
- 30:22but he did encourage those in the audience.
- 30:25He said, I have no formal training.
- 30:27I just had a passion and motivation.
- 30:31And he went and looked at original sources
- 30:33and really brought Benjamin Rush to life.
- 30:36You know, through his book and, I would encourage
- 30:41the members of the Academy that are interested in history
- 30:45to go ahead and write about a topic that you're interested in.
- 30:49The Academy Bulletin is actively looking for,
- 30:53pieces that are documenting the history of our specialty.
- 30:57It doesn't have to be long.
- 30:58So, you know, 800 to 1500 words is great.
- 31:02Doesn't take that long to produce that type of, of a document,
- 31:07maybe 1 or 2 footnotes in there, some photographs.
- 31:10If you have something that you're passionate about,
- 31:12the history of our specialty, please feel free to send it to me.
- 31:16Send it to the Academy Bulletin editor, John Trumbo.
- 31:21We are actively looking for solicitations from our members.
- 31:25I did my, residency in fellowship up
- 31:28in Boston Med school, undergrad, huge historical city,
- 31:31and I spent about 18 months to two years in private
- 31:35practice settings, community hospitals just throughout the rotations
- 31:39and some of the greatest finds were in those hospitals. Jim.
- 31:42My God, you know, I'd be riding the elevator up
- 31:46and they'd be one of the biggest VIPs
- 31:48in the world going there for groundbreaking technology
- 31:52or prime ministers and community hospitals innovation.
- 31:56You'll see the and you'll look back and say, oh my gosh, 1950s.
- 32:00This is where the surgeon was.
- 32:01I don't know if you've ever felt that sometimes.
- 32:03So I think these stories are all around us.
- 32:06It doesn't have to be Philadelphia.
- 32:08It doesn't have to be Washington or Boston.
- 32:09It's an all of our communities.
- 32:11These wonderful legacies of otolaryngology.
- 32:14Some of this is,
- 32:17you know, just creating audio archives
- 32:20of individuals that you think are important to the history of our specialty.
- 32:25And it may not be someone who invented a device or a technique.
- 32:30It may be someone who's done something really important for our region.
- 32:34And, you know, talking to that, person who may be getting on in years and,
- 32:39and let's write down the history or get it, recorded, going forward.
- 32:45So, you know, even interviews with, you know, historically important figures
- 32:50or something that would be, I'm sure of, of interest to the academy membership.
- 32:54Well, I'm going to put you on the spot for a third time.
- 32:56Do you think we we can remember what the Jesuit freshman teacher said.
- 32:59And I still love that quote.
- 33:01I think I'm to paraphrase it.
- 33:02If we don't learn from our mistakes, we can't go forward.
- 33:05Do you think you can get it right?
- 33:06What was it again? Something about, we're doomed.
- 33:09Yes.
- 33:12Those who disregard history
- 33:14are doomed to repeat it going forward.
- 33:18Jim Kennedy, thank you so much.
- 33:20That was perfect.
- 33:21Thank you so much for joining us on Voices of Otolaryngology for your service
- 33:24to the Academy. Camaraderie and friendship.
- 33:26Thank you.
- 33:28Thank you, Rahul, for your outstanding leadership.
- 33:33ideas.
- 33:34If it resonated with you, please subscribe and share it with friends.
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- 33:47Thanks for listening. See you next time.