WTA presidential address: The man in the glass.

I want to thank you, my colleagues and friends in the Western Trauma Association, for having given me the opportunity to be the President of my most favorite organization. I came to my first meeting in 1988. Dr. Austin Mehrhof, a plastic surgeon at The Medical College of Virginia, suggested that I come to a Western Trauma meeting here, in Steamboat Springs, because I loved to ski and was deeply interested in trauma and critical care. Since then, I haven’t missed a meeting and look forward to the next one the minute I’m on the plane, flying home. The Western Trauma became a wonderful opportunity to bond with my children and to meet colleagues and their families in a beautiful setting. So it’s super to be back in Steamboat Springs, where my journey with the Western Trauma began. The title of my talk, “The Man in the Glass,” should not be construed as sexist. It refers to all of us as a species, not male or female. As the first person of the Western Trauma Association who has retired before assuming the Presidency, I would like to take this opportunity to look back on my career with my thoughts for members of our society, surgical residents and medical students interested in surgery. At this stage in one’s life, we need to look back at those individuals who provided critical advice or support at the various forks in the road, our mentors. Tom Nealon was my adviser when I was a medical student at Jefferson and was helpful in many ways as I moved toward a career in surgery, with a slight miss-step as a medical intern. I was a resident at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, or H.U.P., and owe much to Leonard Miller, a surgical basic scientist there, and Billy Fitts, the first editor of the Journal of Trauma. Basil Pruitt saved me from a stint at a 20-bed Air Force hospital when he was able to get me back into the Army at the end of my chief resident year, which gave us two wonderful years defending you in Germany. He was subsequently very supportive with the Army Department of Defense extra-mural research contracts when I returned to academic medicine after a stint in private practice when I joined the faculty in 1978 at the Medical College of Virginia, which was under the leadership of Lazar Greenfield. Dr. Greenfield was a solid, honest Chairman who was very supportive of his faculty and whose word could be relied upon. Integrity, that must be the watchword for a physician and a department administrator. When I was a resident at H.U.P., Dr. Jonathan Rhoads was the Chairman of the Department. Dr. Rhoads was a gentle, but firm giant and the surgeons on the faculty were true gentlemen. There was a strong ethic of collegiality, respect for the rights of patients and their families and interest in promoting research for the enhancement of patient care. The economic restrictions and incentives were not in the forefront of medical care or research. There was never a question of faculty integrity— and that was true of my resident colleagues as well. It was not a utopia, but it was certainly a pleasant environment in which to learn both the skills and ethics of surgery. It was an exciting time, when total parenteral nutrition was developed and applied at H.U.P. with Drs. Dudrick, Wilmore and Copyright © 2004 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Address for reprints: Harvey J. Sugerman, MD, 410 S. Mooreland Rd., Richmond, VA 23229.