Physicians - oral histories

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Milton Floersheim, Jr., (1919-2000), a family practitioner who set up his private practice in Roy, New Mexico in 1946, then moved to Raton 18 months later, sheds light on both rural practice on the plains of northeastern New Mexico and on medicine and the medical community in Raton. (At the time of the interview, Dr. Floersheim had been in practice in Raton for 35 years.) Among the subjects discussed are the "old-timey" doctors of the 1920s and 1930s in Roy and Clayton,...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Oliver S. Cramer (1911-1997) of Albuquerque, New Mexico focuses on his nearly thirty years' practice of internal medicine in Albuquerque. Coming to the Lovelace Clinic first in 1941 and returning there in 1946 after military service, Dr. Cramer was a witness to the establishment of the Lovelace Medical foundation and a participant in the growth of the Clinic. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Cramer's personal and professional backgrounds; his...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. P.G. Cornish III (1929-1996), a retired general surgeon of Albuquerque, New Mexico, focuses on his father and grandfather, both also surgeons who practiced in Albuquerque. Dr. Cornish, Sr. practiced in Albuquerque from the 1890s until his death in 1932, and Dr. Cornish, Jr. from 1920 until his death in the 1950s.

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Ralph P. Brower (1920-2007), an osteopathic physician of Belen, New Mexico. After medical education and internship training, Dr. Brower initially arrived in New Mexico in 1951 and practiced 10 years in Vaughn. After a brief tenure in Denver, Dr. Brower returned to New Mexico and established a practice in Belen. Among the subjects discussed in the interview are Dr. Brower's personal and professional backgrounds; the nature of his practice over...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Reginald H. Fitz, III (1920-2013) a Dean Emeritus of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, surveys his years as founder-dean of the UNM School of Medicine. Selected as first dean of the new school in 1961 and charged with building it, Dr. Fitz spent seven years in Albuquerque and presided over the planning and preparation period leading down to the school's opening in 1964 and over its first four years of operation. In this interview, Dean Fitz summarizes the...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Richard E. Brubaker (1915-1990), an osteopathic physician who practiced nearly 45 years in New Mexico, predominantly in Belen. Among the subjects discussed in the interview are the personal and professional backgrounds of Dr. Brubaker; his schooling, internship, and early practice years; his use of and views on manipulative therapy; the osteopathic community in New Mexico; relationships between osteopaths and MD's and osteopaths and...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Robert E. Anderson (1931-2009) focuses largely on the creation and early years of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Anderson summarizes his own personal and professional background; analyzes the reasons for his decision to join the brand new school in 1964 (and suggests those of many of his colleagues); sketches the prominent individuals involved in the early history of the institution; provides information about the first decade or so of the school's...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Robert Friedenberg (1909-1990) of Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of New Mexico's pioneer board-certified internists, Dr. Friedenberg practiced in Albuquerque from 1945 until his retirement in 1978. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Friedenberg's personal and professional backgrounds; his service in the U.S. Army and the Veterans Administration, including the VA Hospital in Albuquerque; the development and importance of the...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the early life and career of Dr. Robert H. Gervais (1929-2021), a psychiatrist practicing in Roswell, New Mexico. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Gervais's personal and professional backgrounds; his service in and views on UNM-SOM's early efforts in the field of psychiatry in the late 1960s, including testimony regarding the early years of the Mental Health Center; Dr. Gervais's reflections on the efforts to establish modern psychiatric services in...

Scope and Contents This interview surveys the life and career of Dr. Samuel R. Barol (1929- ), of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A specialist in internal medicine, Dr. Barol came to Albuquerque in 1975 to join the Lovelace Clinic. Among the subjects discussed in this interview are Dr. Barol's personal and professional background; his choice between specialty and family practice medicine; his perspectives on the Lovelace Clinic at the time of his arrival in 1975; the prominent individuals involved in Lovelace; its...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Thomas L. Chiffelle (1918-2008) focuses on his nearly forty years' association with Albuquerque's Lovelace Clinic. In addition to his own personal and professional background, Dr. Chiffelle comments on Albuquerque medicine and the place of the Lovelace Clinic within it. Among the subjects discussed are the doctors William Randolph Lovelace I, William Randolph Lovelace II, and the other major figures of the Lovelace institution; the friction between the Clinic and the...

Scope and Contents This interview with Dr. Victor E. Berchtold (1901-2007) of Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a broad overview of his half century in medicine, from his student days at Creighton University through forty years of practice in Santa Fe. The interview provides information about the following subjects: the Santa Fe medical community of the 1930s and 1940s; the importance of the tuberculosis industry in New Mexico; the development of Dr. Berchtold's specialty focus on urology; and St. Vincent's...