Summer 2004

Alumni News

See and Ye Shall Find

Joseph Greene, MD ’72, mentioned in the spring issue (page 20) was trying to recall the name of the anatomy professor, one of his favorite instructors while attending IUSM. Several readers immediately provided the answer. The professor was Robert Schellhamer, PhD.

“I probably knew him better than anyone at IU,” says John R. “Hap” Dragoo, MD ’60, “because I taught in the anatomy department with him for a few years, was his roommate for three years and he was an attendant in my wedding in 1956.”

“He was indeed a very excellent and inspiring teacher,” recalls Alan D. Schmetzer, ‘72MD, IUSM assistant chair of education and professor of psychiatry.

We appreciate those who provided us with this information – and thanks for reading IU Medicine magazine.

1956

The news came a little late for the woman, who had just emigrated from Poland to Indianapolis. Lyall “Lou” Frank, MD, recalls the day that as a student making rounds when the new mother asked him about the pros and cons of circumcision. After explaining both sides, she decided against it. In walked the attending the physician and the woman she asked him not to do the procedure. Already done,” the doctor replied. Dr. Frank, who now resides in Sun City West, Ariz., retired from family practice several years ago. He enjoys skiing, horseback riding and working with silver crafts.

1958

Peter Gutierrez, MD, Crown Point, Ind., has a place on a lake to get way from it all, work on his computer and just look at the water. This family practice physician and his wife have enjoyed watching their children and grandchildren grow up and do well in life. During his admissions interview with Paul Harmon, PhD, he talked about his experiences with germ warfare at a military installation. The good doctor nodded and simply said, “I will see you in September.”

1961

When he was a young medical student, Daniel Evans, MD, says George Lukemeyer, MD ’47, as one of his favorite faculty members. “He always told me to aim high and that any goal was attainable if you worked hard enough.” The advice must have paid off for the retired ophthalmologist: he has worked as a volunteer for diagnosing and treating eye diseases for poor and homeless patients. He and his wife spend their summers in Colorado and winters in Arizona.

1962

Child psychiatrist Lowell Becker, MD, closed his private practice in Fort Wayne, Ind., and he and his wife moved to Terre Haute, Ind. sveral years ago where he continues to practice. He designed two computer-based systems to assess attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder “God has blessed me and my family in so many ways and for His blessings we are thankful every day,” he writes.

1967

Some people have skeletons in their closets. David Hightshue, MD, remembers that he and many of his classmates had fake bones and green balloons tucked inside of their gowns on graduation day. The retired obstetrician/gynecologist is a sports enthusiast and likes to travel when he’s not at home in Conover, N.C. He’s past chairman of the 15 th District of the North Carolina Medical Society.

1971

Darlene Sayers Kardatzke, MD, is assistant professor at IUSM and a developmental pediatrician aat Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. She teaches Sunday School classes for youngsters, enjoys camping and appreciates the fact that her husband’s favorite hobby is cooking.

1972

For two decades, Susan Radloff Stephens, MD, worked as an emergency room physician and continually perfected her expertise in that area. Some health issues forced her to retired in 2001, but she made a great discovery. “Your job is not your life,” she says, “and now I travel, visit with my children and grandchild and bought a Jaguar (the drivable variety.

1973

Charles “Larry” Parker, MD, was on call at the Roudebush VA Medical Center on a psychiatric rotation one night. He got the call to rush to ER when a code blue was called. “Lucky for the patient he was catatonic and not in cardiac arrest,” he recalls of that night. The New Bern, N.C., resident is a former chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and past president of New Bern Outpatient Surgery Center. The water calls to him often in the form of swimming, surfing and fishing.

1979

Steve Alan Hyman, MD, was at center stage last April at a performing arts center in Nashville, Tenn. The pianist performed various works of classical composers. “It was dream come true for me,” writes Dr. Hyman, an anesthesiologist and associate professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. About two years ago, he enrolled as a piano student at Belmont University; he anticipated receiving his master’s degree in piano performance in May. He’s been tickling the ivories since the age of 5.

1981

We’re not breaking any HIPPA or confidentiality rules by telling you this because it’s a well-known fact: Scott A. Shapiro, MD, IUSM professor of neurosurgery, operated on Lance Armstrong several years ago when the Tour de France superstar was battling cancer at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis. “And I didn’t bump him off, thank God!” quips Dr. Shapiro, who has developed new fusion techniques for cervical spine surgery that has been adapted throughout the country. Years ago, he spent a month on neurosurgery service at Johns Hopkins and determined that “IU medical school does a better job of preparing us to be doctors.”

1983

Mary Ciotti, MD, Sacramento, Calif., is director of medical education for the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology at the University of California. She’s also residency director there and recently was appointed to the board of directors of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She recalls her first two years of medical school at the Terre Haute center as being the place where she might some of her best friends.

1991

Graduation at the Hoosier Dome. “Just thinking about walking across that stage still gives me goosebumps,” says Edythe Thomas Lotharius, MD, of Carmel, Ind. The internist is board-certified in hospice and palliative medicine and has been associate medical director of an Indianapolis hospital. A few years ago she left private practice to work in an immediate care capacity – “the perfect part time career for a new Mom.”

1992

Do you remember when the bovine was so fine on a past Halloween? Timothy Smith, MD, and friends made cow costumes at his future wife’s apartment one evening and then “moo-ved” on to other pursuits. The Plymouth, Ind., radiologist is associated with X-Ray Consultants Inc. of South Bend. He is a past recipient of the Spirit of Mission and Clinical Excellence Award at St. Jospeh’s Regional Medical Center at Plymouth.

1993