Central PA Medicine Fall 2020 - 4

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From the Editor

50 Years
of Excellence

Joseph F. Answine, MD, FASA
Central PA Medicine Editor-in-Chief

facebook.com/dauphincms

Dauphin@pamedsoc.org

Dauphin County Medical Society
777 East Park Drive, PO Box 8820
Harrisburg, PA 17105

ost of the departments within processes (as if I could) were the usual during
the Penn State University Hos- " Michael T " OR days. He taught me not to
pital and College of Medicine fear anesthesiology.
are at or near 50 years of exWayne K. Marshall, MD, was the director
istence. The Department of Anesthesiology of the operating room complex and most
and Perioperative Medicine celebrates its commonly ran the daily schedule during
semicentennial this year (2020). The depart- my residency. He ran it with an " iron fist. "
ment name has changed from Anesthesia He was cool, calculated, and definite in
to Anesthesiology to Anesthesiology and his decisions. His greatest asset, however,
Perioperative Medicine as the roles of the was his loyalty to his staff and especially
department within the institution have his residents. Many times he would step in
changed over time. To personally celebrate when I would have a run-in with a surgical
the milestone, I am writing about some of my colleague and defend me to the end, only
most cherished memories of my residency and to take me aside later in a quiet place and
individuals that inspired me during that time. say, " Joe, what the hell were you thinking? "
My chairman was Julien F. Biebuyck, MD, He taught me that our residents and our
PhD, who was everything I was not; proper, students are our children to be nurtured,
sophisticated, and calmly in control of his protected, and treated with respect.
environment. When it comes to my academic
Donald (Don) E. Martin, MD, was my prolife, I could not respect an individual more. gram director. His asset was diplomacy which
He would run the operating room (OR) was something not really in my wheelhouse.
schedule on Tuesdays and would usually work He was and is a great anesthesiologist, but his
with Jay Johnson, CRNA and a senior level true talent was advocacy for anesthesiology
resident. Commonly, I would get to be that and anesthesiologists, with years of service to
resident because I liked new gadgets and he the Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists
liked new gadgets. But he had one strict rule, and American Society of Anesthesiologists.
" Don't make me look like an amateur. " Not an He is responsible, good or bad, for everything
easy task for me obviously. We had fun and I have done to advocate for physicians over
its impossible not to learn from a student of the decades. At time, he quietly may have
Dr. Hans Adolf Krebs of the famed Krebs regretted that, but his guidance over the
cycle. He taught me to respect anesthesiology. years has been invaluable to me as a person
My advisor was Michael (Mike) T. Snider,
MD, PhD, a true anesthesiology wizard
in my opinion. Working with Mike was
a " rollercoaster " because you had no idea
when the next twist or turn was coming, and
the calm was surely just before the storm.
Alcohol inductions, closed-circuit anesthetics,
anesthetic roadshows with Frankenstein-like
designed ventilators, days in the ICU caring
for ECMO patients, and way off label uses
of medications with a multitude of papers to
read in an attempt to understand his thought

Fall 2020 Central PA Medicine

and physician. He taught me to fight for
anesthesiology, anesthesiologists, and patients.

Dr. Joan M. Ruffle was a pediatric anesthesiologist on staff during my residency.
Her job was to pull back on the reigns of the
wild horse created by Mike Snider. She was
a stickler for detail. Nothing was too trivial
to care about when giving an anesthetic. I
really struggled working with her during my
earlier years as a resident. She once told me
that I was like a bull in a china shop. I was
too " cool " for all her oversight. Then as a

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Central PA Medicine Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Central PA Medicine Fall 2020