Physicians - oral histories

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Albert W. Egenhofer (1910-1991) of Santa Fe, New Mexico surveys Dr. Egenhofer's 33 years' practice in Santa Fe. There is particular emphasis on the early years in New Mexico and on the nature of his practice. Among the subjects discussed are the work of the Proctor Eye Clinic in Santa Fe and Taos; hospital facilities and services at St. Vincent's Hospital; Bruns General Hospital in Santa Fe; the New Mexico Ophthalmological Society; and others.

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Alice Cushing (1930-2019) surveys the early part of her career. She was a pediatrician in Albuquerque and chair of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Cushing provides information about the foundation and early development of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in the early 1960s; the pioneer internship and residency programs at the Bernalillo County Indian Hospital (UNM Hospital); the pediatrics community in...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Alvin H. Follingstad (1905-1989), a general surgeon of Albuquerque, New Mexico, surveys his long career in New Mexico. Originally (1939-1942) a small-town general practitioner, Dr. Follingstad set up his practice in general surgery and gynecology in Albuquerque after the Second World War and practiced there continuously until his retirement in 1981. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are his medical education and training; World War II service; rural/small...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Arthur J. Fischer (1913-2002), an otolaryngologist who practiced in Las Cruces (1958-1965) and at Albuquerque's Lovelace Clinic (1965-1978). Among the subjects discussed are Dr. Fischer's personal and professional backgrounds; his practice years in Las Cruces; the foundation of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine; the Lovelace Clinic in the 1960s and 1970s; and others.

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Catherine Armstrong-Seward (1915-2009), a pediatrician of Carlsbad, New Mexico, surveys her life and career as a New Mexico physician. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Armstrong's personal and professional backgrounds; her views and personal experience with sex prejudice in the profession; her appraisal of the medical community in Carlsbad as of the early 1950s and of medical facilities in the city and their development; her perception of...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Charles F. Fishback (1907-1990) of Albuquerque, N.M., focuses on his 30 years' practice of pediatrics in that city. A Mayo-trained pediatrician, Dr. Fishback came to the Lovelace Clinic in 1941 and retired in 1972. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Fishback's personal and professional backgrounds; his summary and evaluation of the Albuquerque medical community of the 1940s and 1950s, especially its pediatricians; the main personalities and operation...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Edward D. Fikany (1917-2002) of Fort Sumner, New Mexico (De Baca County) provides insights into rural or smalltown practice in New Mexico during the last half of the twentieth century. A Northwestern University Medical School graduate, Dr. Fikany set up practice in Ft. Sumner (pop. 3000 and less) in 1948 and remained in continuous service there for more than 42 years. Among the subjects discussed in some detail in this interview are the economics and logistics of rural...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the 46 year practice in New Mexico of osteopathic physician Dr. E.C. Bartlett, Jr. (1916-2011). Arriving in the state in 1939, Dr. Bartlett practiced for a decade in Alamogordo, then, after further training, another 36 years in Albuquerque. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Bartlett's personal and professional backgrounds; his father and two uncles, other osteopathic physicians in New Mexico; his education at Kirksville College of Osteopathy and...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Evelyn J. Basile (1917-2009), a board certified pediatrician of Las Cruces, New Mexico, discusses her life and career as a New Mexico physician. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Basile's medical education and post-graduate training experiences; the Las Cruces medical community in the early 1950's; Memorial Hospital's general lack of a pediatric unit and her establishment of a nursery for premature infants; osteopathic and ancillary health...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Frank A. English (1916-2009), an allergy specialist in Roswell, New Mexico. Born and raised in New Mexico, Dr. English returned to the state in 1947 after completing his medical education and World War II service. He started as a family practitioner in Ruidoso, then worked in family practice in Roswell. Dr. English gradually focused his practice on allergy and received board certification in that field in 1975. Among the subjects discussed in...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Harry D. Ellis (1921-1997), a longtime pathologist of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the earliest board-certified pathologists to practice in the state, Dr. Ellis set up his private practice and laboratory in Santa Fe in 1954 and practiced there and throughout northern New Mexico until 1982. In that year, he shifted his practice to Albuquerque, while establishing The Reference Lab, Inc., the largest private pathology laboratory in...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Hilton W. Gillett (1903-1992) summarizes his over forty years of family practice in Lovington, New Mexico. Arriving in the state in 1934, Dr. Gillett served a large, rural practice spanning most of Lea County. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Gillett's personal and professional backgrounds; the "old-time" physicians of Lea County, as he knew them; hospitals in Lea County; continuing education; rural medicine in southeastern New Mexico; and other...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Jack A. Dillahunt (1914-1996) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, summarizes his 34 years' medical practice in New Mexico. A board certified ophthalmologist, one of the first in the state, Dr. Dillahunt came to Albuquerque in 1950 and established a private practice in his specialty which operated to the mid-1980s. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Dillahunt's personal and professional backgrounds; the medical community of Albuquerque in the 1950s; the...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. John F. Boyd (1920-1999), an orthopedic surgeon of Albuquerque, New Mexico, surveys his personal and professional activities. Arriving in Albuquerque in 1953, Dr. Boyd practiced his specialty for 39 years until his retirement at the end of 1991. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Boyd's personal and professional backgrounds; his appraisal of Albuquerque medicine in the 1950's, including evaluation of hospital facilities and the Albuquerque medical...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. John H. Dettweiler (1920-2002), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, surveys his life and career as a New Mexico physician. An internist, Dr. Dettweiler came to Albuquerque in 1949 and practiced continuously for forty years before his retirement in 1989. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Dettweiler's personal and professional backgrounds; the Albuquerque medical community and medical facilities of the late 1940s and 1950s; the split within the Albuquerque...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. J. Joseph Corcoran (1913-1996) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A specialist in dermatology, Dr. Corcoran came to Albuquerque in 1949 and practiced continuously until his retirement in 1980. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Corcoran's personal and professional backgrounds; his extensive World War II experience; his selection of Albuquerque as the site of his practice; the Albuquerque medical community and medical facilities of...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Jose A. Dominguez (1909-1999), an osteopathic physician of Taos, New Mexico, focuses on his half-century medical practice in that community. A family practitioner with special interest in obstetrics and surgery, Dr. Dominguez set up his practice in Taos in 1938. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Dominguez's personal and professional backgrounds; his medical education at Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery; the focus and economics of his Taos...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the two careers of Dr. Junius A. Evans as a physician in New Mexico. From 1946 until 1959, Dr. Evans served a large general practice in Las Vegas, New Mexico, until serious illness forced a career change. After a residency in dermatology, Dr. Evans returned in 1962 to New Mexico, this time to Roswell, and practiced his specialty for an additional quarter century. This interview provides detailed information on both these careers, including appraisals of the physician...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Lawrence Donald Barbour, Sr. (1908-2005), an osteopathic physician of Roswell, New Mexico, surveys his life and career. Among the subjects discussed in the interview are Dr. Barbour's personal and professional backgrounds; the nature of his practice and changes within it over forty+ years of practice; relationships between osteopaths and MDs in Roswell; the foundation and development of osteopathic hospitals in Roswell; the New Mexico Osteopathic Medical Association and...

Scope and Contents Among the subjects discussed in this interview are the medical community of the Espanola Valley; the health and sanitation problems of the region; public health services; the increasing pressure of the federal government on medicine; continuing education; and others.

The interview dates April 23, 1989 and the collection consists of 1 audiocassette (45 min.) + 1 transcript (13 pages), correspondence, and the interviewee agreement.

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Leslie L. Daviet (1911-2002), a general medicine/general surgery practitioner of Las Cruces, New Mexico, surveys his life and career. Arriving in Las Cruces in 1937, Dr. Daviet practiced 43 years in that community until his retirement in 1980. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Daviet's personal and professional backgrounds; the old-time physicians, especially Drs. Robert McBride and Charles Gerber, and the medical facilities of Las Cruces in the late...

Scope and Contents This interview with Reserve (Catron County), New Mexico's Dr. Lloyd G. Foster (1908-1999), summarizes his nearly 50 years' medical practice in New Mexico. A "country doctor" in the traditional sense of the term, Dr. Foster has been the only physician in his Connecticut-size county for most of his half-century of practice. In addition to his personal and professional background, this interview surveys rural practice in an isolated setting, the special problems and rewards associated with it, and...

Scope and Contents This interview summarizes the life and 30-year career at Albuquerque's Lovelace Clinic of Dr. Melvin D. Bivens (1918-1987). A board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist, Dr. Bivens came to Lovelace in 1953 and served as head of its OB/GYN department from 1957 until his retirement in 1983. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Bivens' personal and professional backgrounds; his appraisal of the operations of the Lovelace Clinic and Foundation and the major personalities involved...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Michele DeMaio (1915-2004), an internist of Clovis, New Mexico. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are the old-time physicians of the Clovis region, particularly Dr. H.A. "Hal" Miller; medical facilities and the nature of practice in the region; the focus and thrust of Dr. DeMaio's practice; and others.