Charles A. Hoffman, M.D.: Physician, Leader, Humanist

Physician role models are as important for the seasoned practitioner as they are for the recent medical school graduate. To this end, the life and career of Charles Carl A. Hoffman, M.D. (Fig. 1), American Urological Association (AUA) President 1967-1968, are legion. Dr. Hoffman had humble origins in the southern Ohio industrial town of Ironton. Born in 1904, he lost both parents before the age of 10 years, and was taken in by relatives. To help support his extended family, he got an after-school job at a local pharmacy (Fig. 2a), running errands and delivering prescriptions. The sight of people suffering and in pain had a profound effect upon the young boy, who noticed the hope and anticipation in their faces when they received their medicines, and he wished he could do more to help them. After graduating from pharmacy school at The Ohio State University in 1925, he applied for a loan from the First National Bank of Ironton to buy the pharmacy. The bank president was impressed with the young man\u27s drive and intellect. These qualities were also noted by Ohio Congressman Tom Jenkins, who offered the young pharmacist a place in the freshman class at the United States Naval Academy. Knowing that this was a major life decision, he nevertheless politely turned down the congressman\u27s offer, enrolled at Marshall College in nearby Huntington, West Virginia, and the at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, all the while commuting back to Ironton on weekends to supervise his pharmacy and to pay back h is loans

Compassion in Medicine

“Doctor, you know this patient’s HIV-positive.” The scrub nurse’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been called into the operating room to assist one of my colleagues, a good friend and a good surgeon, who had requested my help after he had inadvertently gotten into the bladder during a hernia repair. I scrubbed in and took a look – the bladder neck was almost completely detached from the bladder. A small papillary tumor was visible just lateral to the left ureteral orifice. I snipped off the tumor with the Metzenbaum scissors, fulgurated its base, and proceeded to help him sew the bladder back together with some resorbable suture. We were finishing the repair when I moved some peritoneum away with my hand and accidentally stuck the back of my left middle finger with the suture needle. “What?

Bibliography of Secondary Sources on the History of Dermatology II. Obituaries and Biographies in English before 1973

Bibliography of Secondary Sources on the History of Dermatology II. Obituaries and Biographies in English before 197

A case of congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens

Background Congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens occurs in 0.5%–1.0% of males. It has been associated with various genitourinary abnormalities, including renal agenesis. We report a case of congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens found incidentally during vasectomy in a patient with known unilateral renal agenesis. Case presentation A 24-year-old male presented to our urology clinic requesting vasectomy. His past history was significant for left renal agenesis. Following successful right vasectomy, several attempts to locate the left vas deferens were unsuccessful. We diagnosed congenital unilateral absence of the vas deferens. Follow-up semen analysis showed azoospermia. Conclusion As vasectomies are increasingly performed in outpatient settings, it is imperative that physicians be aware of this condition, which can be recognized by a simple physical exam. Recognition could prevent unnecessary surgery and prompt providers to investigate for associated abnormalities

NIDDK’s Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) Program

This abstract provides an overview to this issue