Around the world 50 years ago. Part 4 USA

My first impressions of USA were very positive. Planes could not then fly directly from Japan to USA, so I was forced to spend a day in Honolulu, mostly on sunny Waikiki beach, watching bikinis throw frisbees.

The contrast from the grey (often raining) constrained Japan was impressive, and was further emphasized next day when I arrived in colorful cheerful San Francisco.

I stayed for a week with a classmate, Chris Heughan, who was doing research at the University. He kindly showed me some of the local sites, including iconic Golden gate bridge, Alcatras, Mount Tamalpeis, Sausalito (Zacks great burgers and fries), and we took a trip down to lovely Carmel and the Monterey peninsula. Itching to play the 16th hole at Cypress Point

I had arranged to visit some of the few centers writing about endoscopy at that time, starting with SF Medical Center (Marvin Schlesinger, Howard Shapiro) and Stanford (Gary Grey, Keith Taylor). I did show some slides of my new ECPG pictures, but was actually giving talks about my recently completed thesis work on thin layer chromatography of intestinal lipds.

Next stop, Mayo clinic, where another classmate (Tony Chilvers) was studying. I was rapidly struck by the professionalism and efficiency of the clinic and the seamless integration with clinical and basic research. I was welcomed by some legends in our field, including Charlie Code, Sid Phillips, Bill Summerskill and Hans Fromm

Next stop, Madison Wisconsin, a colorful college town with a lot of young people having fun. My host there was John Morrissey, a true endoscopy pioneer.

He had developed a training center with a library of gastrocamera film strips and other teaching resources. He published several early reviews of endoscopy, well worth exploring, and a rather severe critique entitled “To cannulate or not to cannulate”. We settled our differences on the golf course, which was remarkable in that all the holes were downhill. There was a funicular type contraption to take you up to the clubhouse from the 18th green, and a phone that made sure your drink was waiting at the top. What a country!

A short flight to Chicago to visit University of Chicago hospital with luminaries Joe Kirschner, Chuck Winans, Irwin Rosenberg. The inventor of colonoscopic polypectomy, Hiromi Shinya, was there from Beth Israel. I enjoyed mixing with many overseas students and postgrads, staying at the “International house” and explored the city, despite the 101F heat.

And then to Rochester, New York state, to visit Strong Memorial Hospital and meet with the strong GI group, including Michael Turner and Marty Kleinman. I stayed with a Cambridge classmate, Ferhad Nevab, and we drove to Montreal together over the July 4th weekend. Great city and fascinating pavilions from many countries at Expo.

Finally, via Niagara falls to NYC where I met Dick McCray, who was to become a lifelong friend, despite leading me astray on several occasions around the world, not least on his sail boat. He had written an interesting paper about endoscopy in GI bleeding. In 1974, Dick and I ran the first ever live demo of ERCP, beamed to a hotel from his hospital, with pioneers Classen and Oi. The TV cameras were huge and unwieldy.

The visit to USA corrected some of my previous rather negative impressions of Americans, based on TV melodramas and loud tourists. Obviously I only scratched the surface of this huge country (and mainly it’s medical face), but I met a lot of cheerful cultured people, and was energized by the positive “can-do” attitude. I was particuarly struck by the quality of service everywhere. England was not a happy place at that time, with much grumpiness and many strikes. A lot has changed in 50 years!

And so, home to London after nearly 5 months, happy to see the family. It was time to get back to work (actually to study, since I was still officially in training). How lucky I was to have experienced such a variety of places and people, and to make contacts that would serve me well in my future career. Thank you, Brian, for making it possible.

And thanks to anyone who has accompanied me on this journey.