Tracing Early Medical School International Health Interests: Past lessons, future opportunities
Joan May describes her look into Cornell's early years and believes such a project can benefit student education and can help in the search for support and contacts.  She is glad to offer suggestions to others interested in carrying out such a project. Joan writes: Last year I was asked by a Cornell University emeriti faculty committee to contribute information about the medical school to their research on the University's involvement in international study, research and activities.  A combination of checking archives, alumni magazines and discussions with current faculty, resulted in an interesting collection of data.  The story begins in 1898 when Ida Scudder, visiting her father, medical missionary in India, was asked to care for three women in labor the middle of the night.  When she explained that she wasn't a doctor and told them to call her father she was told that they could not let their wives be seen by a man. She later learned that they had all died. This was a turning point for her. She returned to the US, joined the first class at Cornell medical school, graduated and went to India to start a clinic, then the first medical school for women, now the Christian Medical College of Vellore. Other key alum and their projects include: people and projects include: Benjamin Kean, who taught parasitology, worked in Panama, Haiti, Brazil, and whose charisma inspired many students into international health and infectious disease; Jean Pape, whose work in Haiti earned a French legion of honor; the medical camp in Thailand for Cambodians; a public health project in Jamaica; and major research efforts in Brazil. All of these involved faculty and students. Many other faculty included students in their research abroad.
by Joan May jmmay@med.cornell.edu