In 1935, just before the age of 23,I became a junior intern at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. My 3-year appointment (and that of Dr David G. Welton, my opposite number) was with Professor Udo J. Wile, head of the Department of Dermatology, with whom I was to spend the last 2 months of the rotating internship.
In our undergraduate course in pharmacology, we had learned virtually nothing that was of practical use in patient care. I recall seeking (and getting!) advice from head nurses on the wards regarding drug selections and dosages for sedatives, analgesics, and narcotics!
On the dermatology service we spent the first year in the outpatient clinic, where, like preceptees, we would examine each patient, guess at the diagnosis, take a history to improve or confirm it, then call Dr Wile, who would come in and make his own instant diagnosis, which was