Bio
I grew up in Van Nuys, California, and went to Van Nuys High School with Jane Russell and Bob Waterfield (All Professional Football Quarterback for LA Rams). In high school, I made a new pole-vaulting record for the San Fernando Valley High School League, 12' 8 1/4" in 1938 with a bamboo pole. I was also awarded second place in an All Southern California track meet with a vault of 13' 3", and received a scholarship to UCLA.
When I got to UCLA in September 1938, they said, "Sorry, only freshman football players get scholarships", so that's how my football career got started. Since football practice was in the afternoon, same time as chemistry lab, I got an 'F' in chemistry and was ineligible to pole-vault in spring 1939, so I had to continue with football to keep my scholarship. I played two years of football at UCLA in 1938-1939, with Jackie Robinson in 1939.
I applied for the Air Force in 1939, but was rejected as 'physically unfit with red-green color blind'. After my rejection by the Air Force, I gave up football and got a job at night washing dogs and cleaning kennels for a Beverly Hills vet. During that time, I studied really hard to get the grades for medical school. I then attended University of Southern California Medical School.
After USC Medical School, I had to select an internship program. The Los Angeles County Hospital offered $50.00 a month, but Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland offered $100.00 a month.
While at Kaiser Oakland 1945-1946, I was impressed with their new concept of medical care, but had no idea I would ever join them since I was immediately enlisted in the Army Medical Corp and stationed at Fort Custer, Michigan.
After release from the Army, I started specialty training in Otolaryngology (not yet called 'head & neck surgery') at the University of Illinois Research and Education Hospitals in Chicago, Illinois. Upon completion of my otolaryngology residency, I was encouraged to take a general surgery residency at Hines Veterans Hospital in Illinois in 1950.
While there, I expressed my opinion in the dining room that the U.S. should not be at war in Korea. The McCarthy Committee came after me and demanded I give up my surgical training in the VA or else! So I resigned after one year and took a position as the otolaryngologist at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco in July, 1951 and started a wonderful, rewarding career with Kaiser.
I no longer perform surgery but I still care for patients with non-surgical problems (vertigo and ear problems) in the department of Head & Neck Surgery at Kaiser Santa Rosa. One of my special interests is medical ethics. Now I only work in the afternoons... it takes me all morning to get ready!
Clinical Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, Head & Neck Surgery 1969-90
Board Certification: American Board of Otolaryngology 1952
Residency: University of Illinois, Research & Ed. Hospital: Hines V.A. Hospital, Illinois, 1948-1951
Captain U.S. Army Medical Corps 1946-48
Internship: Permanente Hospital, Oakland, CA, 1945 - 46
Professional School: University of Southern California, 1946
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