Schmitz, Herbert E.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 26 | Number 3 Article 2August 1959Graduate Training in Obstetrics and GynecologyHerbert E. SchmitzFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationSchmitz, Herbert E. (1959) "Graduate Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 26 : No. 3 , Article 2.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol26/iss3/2The minutes of the annual Executive They synopsize a vocal and progressive di· yet assembled for a Federation session. d Meeting are worth your rea, ing. ·,n by the largest number of dele\ ates There were· two important chairs notk ly empty at the table, however. r on-signor Donald A. McGowan, our dynamic i« .•derator, was absent because .of sur ical ' convalescence that is now complete. Mr. M R. Kneifl, our giant Executive Seen ary through the trying years of infancy and adolescence, has been forced to c urtai his· activities due to illness. ·rn appreciation of his tolerance and help over the years the Board elected Ray to "the position of Consultant so that his place will be wa ring always for the inspiring occasions when he can be present. The Roll Call of Officers and Delegates evokes another impressive point. fhe efforts expended by these men in time, expense ( transportation, hotels, meals, and so forth), in physical output are all personal - their free-will contribution to the cause of Catholic Action in medicine. Even the journeys involved in the inaugur; tion of new Guilds is an expense assumed usually by the invited officer of the Federa ion. This exemplary self-sacrifice could be a key to the tremendous growth of the ( uild movement in recent years. Again, the annua·I meeting is more than just the day of the Executive B ,ard session. The preparation of the booth, for example, is a time consuming project. The booth is set up in Exhibition Hall on the Sunday preceding the A.M.A. conve, tion and requires personal supervision. Then friendly doctors, with enthusiasm and , ith­�ut thin skins, must staff the booth constantly from Monday through Friday. In the minutes of the meeting, the mirthful guardian angel of this whole effort is l,sted simply as Dr. Gerard P. J. Griffin, Brooklyn, Chairman of the Exhibit. Gerry has survived a damaged heart and cardiac surgery in its pioneer days to emerg, an inspiring co-ordinator. The officers and volunteer delegates rotate through the hours of duty. Again, this is all done in the spirit of personal thanks for their gift of Faith. The most striking example of this came from Dr. James Nix, Jr. of New OrJ,,ans. Because of his vast experience in the care of religious - approximately thirty-three Orders receive his complirnentary service - we asked his help in formulating a plan for the health care of religious. By train he traveled thirty-six hours to join a three hour preliminary discussion. He then immediately reboarded for the trip home. All this he did to make sure that many more religious would be assured of adequate medical care. .It is little wonder, then, that Father John J. Flanagan, S.J .. at the Memorial Mass in St. Nicholas Church, told a capacity congregation that "great men have preceded us, but great men are in our m_idst." In Federation acquaintances, we find these great men present in every Guild and every diocese, men· whose working norm is not time-eroding and material but per�anent and supernatural. WILLIAM J. EGAN, M.D. 88 LINACRE QUARTERLY Graduate '1' 1 one 1,-'J ng in Obstetrfos ecology HERB• Dr. Schmitz is Chairman Director of the Institute of R_,,, He is also Professor and. Chair at Stritch School of Med1c1r1�. ·cook County Graduate Schoc.-, Memorial Hospital and St. 1 Aitendirig Gynec�logist at C;more than 200 articles ,n the /· an honorary degree of Doctv This year the Laetare A, outstanding contributions_ to I Eminence, Richard Cardinal Guild members, their wives. ,., Dr. Schmitz on this occasion. TO �eceive the La, of the St. Luke's G,, ton is an honor few en:c . ' view of the names of tJ.o..:, i("" ... corded t h.is ho n o r  in the cJSl directs our attention to the lacJ that the recipient of the AW<bcll represented an importai:it contn u­tion to Catholic medJCme. I, too, have been chosen to receive this citation - not because of any per­sonal accomplishments but as a member of a group striving lO pro­vide spe�ial training to undergrad­uate and graduate physicians m Catholic obstetrics and gynecol­ogy; to provide excellent obstetnc care for deserving mothers; and thus by· participating in the w�rk of the Lay Apostolate, to bring souls into the Church; and t.hrough constant study and. inves�igation, to substantiate the Church s teach­ing and thus to improve the results of our efforts in behalf of baby and mother. AUGUST, 1959 HMITZ, M.D.m nt of Obstetrics and Gy, c ,/o,qq_ and '. e at Mercy Hospital, C h_ic.r,:0• lllmois. PY t t f Obstetrics and C,•111cco/ogy Jepar men o f G nccolog y at uersity and ProfesCso,r_ fo f S�atf at Lewis J n addition, he 1s 11e O S . ts and Maternity Hospital and enior ;I ·t I Dr Sci,mitz is the author oJ,t':,,1/�racti�e. In 1950 he was awarde ,1 Loyola University. 'Id f St. Luke of Boston, besfowed Hfor ' 0 d t D Schm,tz. 1s ·,c, was presente o r. . 900 the resentation at a gathering. of Th� following is the address given by This work had its inception in he depression years when t_he late C,,,orge Cardinal Mundelein, be­,. se of his concern over the fall­JP birth rate, ·propaganda for family planning, and the financial roblems of his p eople, conce1':'ed ihe idea of a maternity hospital that would provide the best ob­tainable care for our mothers at a t within reach of all. At the cos h . 1 n dedication of the osp1ta , upo its completion, Cardinal Mu1:de-l . ·n discussing childbearing, em 1 said, "But this is more than a pre­cept calling for assent on the part of our people. It is for many a serious economical problem, par­ticularly for the bulk of our people who support our Churches. For those who have only small wages, Cent of which is parceled out every 1 h . dvance for rent, food, c ot es, ma ·t t carfare, insurance, taxes, m eres., . d part payment of mortgages, if ::ey are paying for a little home, 89 when the time comes for the birth of the baby, it is more than the time of labor. _It is the time of stress and -:orry" for both. It is an addition ,I and heavy expense that they can ill afford." With the f i nancial  help of Count Frank J. Lewis, His Emi­nence purchased the all-steel and brick, ten-story Lakota Hotel at a cost of one million dollars ( equal to at least three million dollars to­day), converted it into a complete­ly equipped maternity hospital. It was named the Le.wis Memorial Maternity Hospital in memory of the Count's deceased wife. When the hospital opened its doors to re­ceive patients on January 4, 1931, the Cardinal announced, "Mothers of Catholic families of the white race, living in legitimate wedlock, and whose husbands' income is less than $2,600 a year, are en­titled to service." A card fur­nished by the family's pastor, at­testing to the eligibility of the applicant, was necessary for regis­tration. Cost, it was announced. would be f u l l y  covered  by a charge of $50 for a ten-day stay, pre and post-natal visits, and de­livery. When Samuel Cardinal Stritch was appointed to the Archdiocese of Chicago, some eight years later, he determined that certain changes were necessary if this project de­served the continued llnancial sup­port of the Church. The yearly registration had fallen due to the economic improvement that began to show itself in the late 1930's. Families earning less than $2,600 could no longer pay fees in many instances, so the general admission 90 p10cedures and rules had to be altered. To ga_in full accredita on nd academic recognition. he airman of the Departmem of ·tetrics and Gynecology in he ch School of Medicine of L ,y-university was appointed � ad he hospital. and the departn :nt , mbers in the medical school ie­came the attending staff. Un er­graduate teaching in the forn of clerkship began for the se ior medical students of Loyola. A es­idency program was formula ed. and accepted as fully apprc ·ed within six months. Affiliation , ith the School of Social Service of Loyola placed our admitting r ili­cies under a program of care for all who are deserving, inclm ing referrals through the office of the Catholic Charities, irrespectiv, of color. Nurses registered in the School of Nursing of J;,oyola l ni­versity, working for their Bach !or of Science degree in Nursing,, ere accepted for practical instruct on, and thus our nursing program vas greatly improved. An assig 1ed service of patients having pa tial insurance c o v e r age for meciical care, but insufficient for private referral. affords us funds for resi­dent salaries, instruments and ac­cessories for medical teaching and education, as well as supporting a complete library and research lab­oratory for investigations into the problems confronting our specialty at present. At the time of our Silver Jubi­lee, the Apostolic Delegate. then Bishop A. G. Cicognani, wrote, "While others have been busy in the important talk of expounding Catholic learning about the Cath-LrNACRE QUARTERLY olic family. this hospital · Memorial Maternity - h. offering for a quarter of a those facilities and possibdi motherhood that have cont vastly to the spiritual welf progress of the families many children." The expense to the Arc• of Chicago for maintenanr program is prohibitive in of many. and recently 1'. sing the necessity of sue I ect with several Bishops 1 ferent parts of the count r informed by them that t 1 tion and maintenance of and medical schools ar� -'" · "''; they would like to _ tu '1 I obligation to someo, avoid this criticism. v., uate the need for Cathe: .. education, and the resu Ir ' ' 1 • If we were to visit a Cathol.· 11 ';·1-ical school. no difference could oe found in the buildings. equipmrnr. class�ooms, or daily schedule of classes. It would take several da�s or weeks before the difference m philosophy becam� apparent. The human body, as a whole, 1s con­sidered: not a diseased gall blad­der, liver.· or k.idneys; not merely items of pathological interest, but a human body created by God to house a soul, made to His Image and .Likeness. The slime of the earth into which Our Creator breathed a �oul is so dear to Him that He gave His life to save us. This belief must always dominate th� teachings and . practice of a Catholic physician.. Then color, creed social strata. and monetary retur� fade from consideration as we recall the words from the Au-AUGUST, 1959 thor of Life, "BeL .use you have done it to the least cf My .?reth­ren, you have done it to Me. 1:he leper. the disease-ric ·n o(f ensive derelict, the beaten t eler left by the wayside, these , · my breth­ren. If we are to justit,· I his teach­ing, we are in need of mstitution_s where we can practice such medi­cine. The Late Samu el  C a rdinal  Stritch, in  instructing us as to th_epolicies to be maintained at Le_wis Memorial M a t e r n ity Hospital. said, "You m·ust show by end re­,ults achieved that Catholic teach­ing is equal to and superior t� methods ignoring the moral law. This we have accomplished by publishing the hospital'� exped­i'nce with cesarean section, tox­.' mia of pregnancy, cancer comph­, ,ting pregnancy. and so forth. In ( , 1)00 births, while adhering to ;; . natural law, we maintain a m<Jtcrnal and fetal salvage eq_ualto all and better than most instit�­tions. How gratifying is today s observation by non-Catholic phys­icians that present medical llnd­ings no longer support the practice of interruption of pregnancy be­cause of heart disease, tubercu­losis, or hypertension; or preven­tion of p r e g n ancy because of repeat cesarean or frequent preg­nancies. It took science many cen­turies to discover what Mother Church had taught us in the nat­ural law. namely. it is never p_er­missible to take an innocent life. Our late Holy Father, Pope Pius XII. has written extens'.v_ely for the guidance of the practi�ing physician and medical teachmg. He refers to medicine as a voca-91 tion. Is this considered by our Deans and Admissions Commit­tees, or have they lost sight of this fact an followed the precept of many of , ,,.r centers of learning that conside;: grades earned in pre­liminary education as the only means by which to judge lltness of a student for admission to the medical school? We must have standards, to be sure, but calling and dedication should -be consid­ered, · to · exclude commercialism from a God;given art and science. all manner of ways in serotherapy , 1d in vaccination. Regarding the great respon i­ty we have to teach and :o · abreast of medical literatu e,·-Ioly Father has written:er does the Catholic doctor t n­e� himself satisfied. He is alw ys ukmg to the future, to new distar es cover, to new advances to be m, le. He works enthusiastically both a a medical doctor wholly dedicated· to b­tain alleviation for humanity· and e ch individual, and as a scientist when , n­sequent discoveries give a taste of he joy of learning. He is a believer nd a Christian who, in the splendo, he discovers in the new horizons that c en before him, sees the greatness nd power of the Creator, the inexhaus, ,le goodness of the Father who, after 1 ,v­ing given the living organism so m ny resources for its development, its Je­fense and in most cases for its SJ ,n­taneous healing, leads him again to md 1n nature, inert or living, mineraJ, · ·g· etable or animal, the remedy of 1 ,dy ills. . The numerous criticisms by ad­vocates of federalized or unioni.:ed medical care leveled at physicians today; namely, "Cadillac doctors," indifference, unavailability, restric­tion of clientele, lack of charity, overcharging, and discrimination threaten to destroy the America� system of medicine. These charges could not be true of the dedicated individual with a vocation, anxious to serve at all times and all man­kind. As Pope Pius XII has writ­ten: His [the doctor's] vocation is noble sublime; his responsibility to society i� grave, but God will not fail to bless him for his charity and for his un­stinted, devoted efforts to alleviate suf­fering of his fellowman on earth. Again, the Holy Father writes: Wh�t does. the medical doctor worthy of his vocation do? He dominates these same forces, these natural properties, m order to obtain from them healing health and vigor, and often, what i� even more precious, prevention of ill­ness and preservation from infection and epidemics. In his hands the for­midable power of radioactivity is har­nessed and controlled for the cure of disease resisting all other treatment. The property of poisons, even the most virulent,. serve for the preparation of the most efficacious medicines. Even the germs of infection are employed in 92 If we follow this clear out' ne of the responsibility of ·our vc :a­tion, what more need would we have for standards, set up by lay accrediting bodies who now de­mand tissue committees, ed1,ca­tional committees, and other c,1m­mitfees, to· enforce upon the c,lib, "highly educated physician/?)" who considers himself self-suffi­cient, and employs interruption of pregnancy for socio-economic rea­sons; destroys life because he de­termines that euthanasia is charit­able, and through ignorance fails to see the strength the sufferer can obtain through Grace received by following Our Savior to Calvary. In p rescr ib ing for our patient, treatment is never justifiable if there is not reasonable assurance that our mini_strations will improve his or her situation for a period of time thought to be adequate, and LINACRE QUARTERLY not to leave them in an t!'i'" • <>1' able condition as a resuli u· , treatment. Of this, the H, ther says: The medical doctor would not responding fully to the ideal o: v cation if, while profiting from recent advances of medical sc, art, he used as a practitionc his intelligence and his abilit he did not also make use, ab, his heart as a man, and I tenderness as a Christian. ·To pu�;ue constant1'. facts through research sb the objective of our instOf this Pius XII has s,,vestigation reveals the l,God in the mirror of H;and His power. in the. '.,.nature; but it is quite an0tl. 0·1 'h :to defy that nature an,.'forces, through the d. -Author." How often t· · ,1 done in the pursuit of ki :l through de/lance of th<:> 1o1  .. 1.il law. In studying -the legal1t v ·)f many research undertakings, priest and doctor must work side by side, as the Holy Father again admonishes us w h e n  he says: "Without exact knowledge of the medical facts, it is impossible to determine what moral principal applies· to the treatment under dis­cussion. The d o c  tot. therefore. looks at the medical aspect of the case, the moralist, the laws of morahty. Accord.ingly. when ex­plained and completed mutually, the medical · and moral evidence will make possible a reliable deci­sion to the moral legality of the case in all its· concrete aspects." This, I believe, is what you are honoring tonight, when your illus­trious Richard Cardinal Cushing presents the Laetare Medal to me AUGUST, 1959 in y,,.Jr behalf. "; '.is is what the late Cardinal Mi n,ldein planned for the alleviatior o[ all concern from the Catholic mother, and the late Samuel Cardinal •ritch called his g r eatest  char Cardinal Motto of Brazil h, , sent two nephews to bring this help to his people who have but une priest for 7,000 Catholics. Om trainees are located in llfty different areas of the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, as well as on the staff of every Catholic hospital in Chicago, wher:e they are faithfully ,:arrying on the teaching that a Catholic physician has a calling to ·;erve man, and to try to free him of the ills which plague his body,, he dwelling place of the soul cre­ated to the Image and Likeness ofGod. In so doing he will always1,·spect the moral law and con-,r. tly improve himself in such a 111crn ner that he gives to his patient tht highest type of medical service with the vision that he is serv-. ing the Master. by attending His flock. Such ideals and rewards can never come through any standard­izing body, but through those who recognize the t e a c hing of the Great Physician, Whose example on earth included healing the sick. irrespective of their race, social position, or disease. His Excellency, Archbishop Al­bert Meyer of the Archdiocese of Chicago. has sent, by me, his. greetings to the St. Luke's Guild of Boston and to your great leader, His Eminence Richard Cardinal Cushing. his profound thanks for your recognition of our efforts at the Stritch School of Medicineand the Lewis Memorial Mater­nity Hospitat. 93 

Graduate Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology

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Graduate Training in Obstetrics and Gynecology

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