LETTER
The Exodus of a Medical School
Meir Djaldetti, MD
15 December 1995 | Volume 123 Issue 12 | Pages 963-964
TO THE EDITOR:
I congratulate Dr. Ernst for his unique attempt to tell the truth about the causes of the downfall of the notorious Viennese Faculty of Medicine [1]. The atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II directly or indirectly affected many superb medical schools. As a graduate of the Academy of Medicine in Sofia, Bulgaria, I absorbed, although indirectly, the knowledge and profound clinical experience of the Viennese School because many of my professors are graduates of or were influenced by this great medical institution. Moreover, many textbooks that helped in my training were translations from originals published by Viennese professors. I believe that I subconsciously continue to transfer the clinical experience and practical knowledge inherited from my great teachers, who were the pride of these two medical schools. I was deeply touched by this story.
Dr. Ernst should be praised for his courage in lifting the curtain of silence and exposing, objectively and without exaggeration, the horrible deeds that physicians, sworn to the Hippocratic Oath, performed. The noble step by Dr. Ernst should not be the last. The editorial by Drs. Lerner and Rothman in the same issue [2] stresses that point and reminds the reader that physicians are those who made medicine, and not the reverse.
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Author and Article Information
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Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel
1. Ernst E. A leading medical school seriously damaged: Vienna 1938 Ann Intern Med. 1995;122:789-92.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Lerner BH, Rothman DJ. Medicine and the Holocaust: learning more of the lessons [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 1995; 122; 793-4.
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