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FEATURE

Saying Goodbye

By Rajam Ramamurthy, MD

As I sat down to pen this message mittee’s task was. I began to speak up when we discussed art in med-
nostalgia flooded my thoughts. I would icine. At that time most pictures and covers for SAM were photo-
eagerly wait for the first Tuesday of the graphs taken by Dr. Dudley Harris an iconic photographer.
month when the Publications Commit- Reluctantly I went off the committee for a few years as demands
tee met. Mike Thomas the communica- on my time from BCMS, TMA and AMA, TIPS and AAPI in-
tions director for BCMS would have creased exponentially. Throughout this period I would still write. I
readied everything for the meeting, the remember writing for an issue that address the great Tsunami of
month’s San Antonio Medicine magazine 2004. I loved writing the Presidential Columns in the year 2004. I
(SAM), which we got to read first, saw the same eagerness in wanting to tell a story in Dr. Leah Jacob-
agenda and other material for discussion son the 2017 President’s column. Although she often minimizes her
all laid out. He was also kind enough to writing skills, I think the words are locked up in her waiting to burst
order the food for the meeting. I must out. I thoroughly enjoyed my second time on the Committee,
get it off my chest, food choice was not around 2011 or 2012. In 2015 I was assuming chairmanship of
Mike’s forte. Louise Doucette the pub- committee. Almost an unspoken tradition, the chair was the one
lisher of SAM since — was one of the with the longest tenure, who loved to come to the meeting, was en-
early arrivals. He has the aura of a magi- gaged and in love with writing. There is always one who is serving
cian, he brought the committee’s contro- on the committee when every two years a new chair is named by
versial discussions alive in the magazine consensus. This brings me to the past two years as Chair.
pages. Often Dr. Fred Olin will be there
early, narrating his latest encounter with another person from whom As the year begins the committee already has a template for the
he managed to get an article. Fred still practices. How and when he theme for the magazine for each month for the entire year. The
manages to read and write as much as he does is a mystery. As far themes got shifted around new pressing issues came up and above
back as I can remember he has been on the editorial committee. Dr. all the articles to address each theme was woefully lacking. A turn-
Waller is another icon on the committee. His contributions in writ- around happened when the year started with new blood on the
ing for the magazine far outweighed those of policy making. When
Dr. Yu came on the committee in — I secretly chuckled, here is a
young person, we won’t see him for the rest of the year. He proved
me wrong. He was present, articulate and liked writing.

My love affair with writing began in school. In those days students
were made to write elaborate essays, this is pre-multiple choice days.
When answering a question in anatomy to point the surface mark-
ings on the skull, I started, “His eyes seem unevenly placed as
though one eye brow was constantly raised leaving a permanent im-
pression on the skull. Was he wondering if she would ever re-
spond?” Our professor otherwise a very strict man was more
amused than annoyed and commented, keep writing. The first time
I was on the editorial committee of SAM I was bewildered. Dr. Dale
Wood was the chair, I want to say that Dr. Wood was chair for as
long as I could remember. The meetings would start with comments
about what the Spurs could and should have done, some trashing
of the Medicare rules and some hushed whisperings between mem-
bers. It took several meetings before I caught on to what the com-

34 San Antonio Medicine • January 2018