Brody School of Medicine - The Beginning
In 1982 as the Brody Medical Sciences Building was being dedicated, five faculty and students reflected on the founding and early years of the School of Medicine. These are excerpts from an article which appeared in the ECU Medical Review, Vol. 5, No. 4, Fall 1982.
Dr. Wallace R. Wooles joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1970 as dean and professor and chair of Pharmacology.
The first [memory] is a great feeling of accomplishment. WE DID IT in the face of constant and overwhelming opposition from all the major population centers of the state. Although many deserve credit for their part in the creation and development of the school, the simple truth is that without the loyalty and dedication of the early faculty there would be no medical school here today.
The second is traveling with Ed Monroe to Raleigh practically every day the legislature was in session, and many days they weren't, to present our case to those who had the final decision. I doubt if there were many places in the eastern two-thirds of the state we didn't visit. It seems on the few days we were not there (in Raleigh and points west), we had legislators and other leaders down here discussing our plans for the development of the school.
Third was the difficulty in convincing faculty to have faith in us and join our program, and then to remain with us no matter how dark or bleak the future looked. In all the years we had only three faculty leave us for other positions.
The last was the closeness and the friendship each of the faculty had to one another. We all had a great sense of pride and purpose in what we were doing. This very quickly spread to our beginning classes, and there was a special relationship between the teachers and those they taught. It helped to encourage and sustain us. In a way I feel sorry for the faculty who have never experienced this special relationship.
Dr. Robert S. Fulghum joined the faculty in 1972. I vividly remember being shown my first "office." It was a small room in the Science Complex which opened into the huge room (N108) that had been one of the homes of the Health Sciences Library. Some kind soul found a chair for me and later I did receive a desk. During the 1972 renovation of the Science Building for the School of Medicine's use, my office was to be moved three times, and as we celebrated our successful conclusion of the initial year of the one-year program, I was awarded the title of "The Most Moved Man."
Dr. Dwight Grady was a member of the 1973 one-year class. How many medical students get to read almost daily in major state newspapers about a raging debate concerning the very existence of their school? We did, and that made us all the more determined to succeed. There was a real vitality and sense of purpose surrounding the faculty, and the feeling filtered down through the students. The faculty to student ratio was unusually high, and this led to intense and personal faculty-student relationships. There was a positive and negative side to this: the absence of even one student from a class of 20 was easily noticed.
I remember the exciting -- and awkward -- moments when we first began playing with the new toys in our new little black bags. And I also remember the old cadaver bags that were still labeled "E.C.T.C."
Dr. Hisham A. Barakat became the 13th member of the faculty when came to the medical school in 1973 as a postdoctoral fellow in Biochemistry.
As a general practice, the biochemistry faculty attended all the biochemistry lectures. When I was lecturing, I noticed that on Fridays no biochemistry faculty members were there. I thought at the time that they may have gone on the usual speaking tours trying to convince people of the mission of the ECU School of Medicine. I later discovered that I was given the September-October lectures because the other faculty members had to be somewhere else: surf-fishing. So much for anger.
Robert E. Thurber joined the Physiology Department in 1970. Notable occurrence. The School's first cadaver was obtained from another medical school and delivered to the loading dock of the Biology Building about noon on a very warm weekday. The six-foot cadaver would not fit horizontally into the elevator. Mike Schweisthal and I propped it up vertically and carefully balanced it for the ride to the fourth floor. The elevator stopped at the second floor, a housekeeper pulling a mop and bucket backed into the elevator, turned around and the rest is history.Early Recruitment. Attracting good faculty was not difficult. Getting them here for a visit often was. Except for a few who were flown to South Carolina, most visitors arrived at the old Kinston airport, usually at night. The ride into Greenville provided two unforgettable sights: the lights of the DuPont plant and the wide-screen action at the North 11 porno drive-in theater.
Special Event. Don Barnes emptying the Biology Building with poison gas.
