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Honoree of endowed chair reflects on aims of medical education "In addition, I enrolled in a two-week senior elective on bone tumors with Dr. Phemister. This was a prophetic experience since I retain a strong interest in bone tumors to this day." Mindell's excellence in research, surgical practice, and teaching is being furthered through the activities of an endowed chair in orthopaedic surgery established in Mindell's honor through an $825,000 commitment from Byron A. Genner III, M.D. '54. Mindell developed a unique bone pathology laboratory at the Erie County Medical Center, now located at Buffalo General Hospital. Currently conducting research in orthopaedic oncology and bone pathology, he is especially interested in new treatments that allow the limb to be saved. His research involves a multidisciplinary team that includes oncologists from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and pathologists from UB and Buffalo General. "I trained in his program and wouldn't be where I am today without it," said Jeffrey Kahler, a former resident of Mindell's, now an orthopaedic surgeon at St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga, N.Y."Dr. Mindell is an intelligent, compassionate man dedicated to orthopaedics and the program he developed at UB." "He is a man of great charm and obvious integrity and leadership qualities," added Robert Gillespie, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. "One of his greatest accomplishments is his dedication to the residency program and his work as a teacher-he is a true academic surgeon." Throughout his career, Mindell has also been dedicated to patient care. He reflected on the case of a 19-year-old female patient with osteogenic sarcoma just above her wrist. After chemotherapy destroyed most of the tumor cells, Mindell removed the lesion with the part of the radius bone in which it had developed. He then did reconstructive surgery, using a radius bone from a bone bank. After 10 years, the patient has no evidence of disease and has a good arm with excellent grip. To improve diagnosis and treatment, Mindell stresses the importance of educating physicians in the fullest sense. He urges medical students to develop compassion and integrity, in addition to their medical skills. After interning at Cincinnati General Hospital, Mindell was stationed as a naval officer at the Veteran's Hospital in Columbia, S.C. He did his residency at the University of Chicago.
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Eugene R. Mindell's interest in orthopaedics dates to his years as a medical student at the University of Chicago. "My interest in orthopaedic surgery was kindled in medical school by Monday night orthopaedic conferences with Drs. C. Howard Hatcher, Mary S. Sherman and Dallas B. Phemister," said Mindell, UB professor emeritus and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics from 1964-88.
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