Current Mailing Address                             

David Good

Dept of Neurology

Penn State Milton S Hershey Med Center

500 University Drive

Hershey, PA 17033

 

Email Address: dgood@psu.edu

 

Present Activity Status: Working

 

Family Status: Grandchildren

What path has your career taken since your residency?  Include military service, private practice, academic career, teaching and research accomplishments. 

 

Following my residency, which ended in 1978, 1 completed a stroke fellowship at Hennepin Co. Medical Center with Milt Ettinger. I then embarked on my 25 year academic career that has spanned three institutions: Southern Illinois, Wake Forest, and most recently Chair at Penn State. My major focus has been neuro-rehabilitation I have been a modestly productive researcher, a residency and fellowship director, and have held leadership positions in several national and international organizations.

We are interested in anecdotes and experiences from your residency years.  Include interactions among fellow residents and teaching staff. 

Our class was large (8 residents), but close knit. We had a lot of clinical autonomy, especially at the county hospitals and the VA.  I vividly recall doing my own cerebral arteriograms through direct carotid puncture in the middle of the night at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Looking back, would you do it again?  What would you change?

 

Of course, a major recollection is Dr. Abe Baker. Who could forget rounds with Margaret Clipper, galvanic stimulation and Margane? Saturday morning teaching sessions were a source of high anxiety for junior residents, Dr. Baker holding court and asking them questions, often regarding neurological minutia. He often would turn around and identify the poor junior resident, who would struggle in embarrassment. However, by the time one was a senior resident, one realized that the questions were the same every year, and most of the answers were in Bing and 1-Taymaker.

Faculty were good teachers, supportive mentors for the residents and many became friends (or life. Sim Zeese annual party was always an event, mostly because the food was great, but also to let us know we were appreciated. Our residency class was mostly married, some with children, and we socialized increasingly as the years progressed. Chi-Wan Lai hosted several elaborate dinners at Chinese restaurants.

Share your thoughts regarding the changes in medicine since your residency.  In your opinion, is Neurology positioned well for the future?

Probably the most revolutionary change that has occurred during my career has been the tremendous advances in neuroimaging technology. I remember when EMI scans (the first CT scans) arrived on the scene (remember the Polaroid-style photos pasted in the charts?). Experienced clinicians who had relied so heavily on their clinical experience couldn’t believe that the EMI scan pictures were correct, and a few simply didn’t accept them for a while. One of the sad consequences of neuro-imaging and other technology has been the diminished importance of that long-standing neurological standard the neurological examination, and to some extent, the of neurology.

The other important change during my career has been the explosion in treatments for neurological disorders. We now take for granted the treatment of disorders that we could only observe the history and hope for a good outcome early in my career.