By Rita Agarwal, MD, FASA, FAAP
Drs. Jay Brodsky and John Brock-Utne are both Emeritus Professors in Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine. Both have had long, accomplished, and celebrated careers with countless published articles and books among them. Dr. Brodsky was the subject of the 2022 CSA History of Anesthesia Essay Contest and Dr. Brock-Utne has been very involved with CSA, serving as the District 3 Delegate for many years.
Drs. Brodsky and Brock-Utne have recently written a book on Anesthesia at Stanford. As someone who did not train at Stanford or come here as faculty until later in my career, I will confess that I did not expect to enjoy the book as much as I did. The 1970s to 80s were such a pivotal time in anesthesiology with the development of pulse oximetry, capnography, specialized ICU care, and training programs. This book is not just a history of anesthesia at Stanford, but also a history of the evolution of modern anesthesia practice in California and the country. The following is a snapshot of some of my conversation with Drs. Brodsky and Brock-Utne. Go to the CSA Podcast to listen to the entire discussion.
What inspired you to write this book?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: As a member of the CSA History committee, I was going to submit an article about Ellis Cohen. Dr. Cohen was an original member of the new Department of Anesthesia at Stanford since 1960, and I joined the faculty in 1977. He was a famous researcher and clinician and was acting chair after Dr. Bunker left. In fact, the Ellis Cohen Achievement Award is given annually at resident graduation. I had also previously published an article in Anesthesia and Analgesia on Caroline Palmer, the first “chair” of Anesthesia at Stanford.
In preparing the CSA article, I realized how little was known about the anesthesiologists at Stanford in the “early” years. As I was interested in knowing about our history, I researched the department members in the Stanford medical school library archives and published a book “The Early History of Anesthesia at Stanford: 1909-1972” on Amazon. Philip Larson, the Chair of Anesthesia, who succeeded John Bunker (the first department chair), kindly wrote the Forward to that book. Dr. Larson had recruited and hired both John Brock-Utne and me.
The three of us thought it would be great to continue the department history with the book, “The Larson years: 1972-1982”.
For the first book I could interview only 3-4 of the living faculty and staff. Almost all the information about the members came from the Stanford archives and the Internet. There actually was very little data on the majority of people.
For the next book the challenge was trying to locate the more than 200 former residents and faculty to obtain biographical information. Of those 200+ people starting at Stanford between 1972-1982, about 45 were deceased and another 40-50 could not be reached or did not respond to our emails, letters, and Internet searches. We did contact and hear from about 100 physicians – many submitted memories and anecdotes and photos about life at Stanford and their careers after leaving. The remainder of the information came from extensive Internet searches.
Dr. John Brock-Utne: Jay was the kingpin; without him this book would never have been written. I had written a book on the medical students that graduated with me at Trinity College, Dublin in the 1960s. For that, everyone shared at least one story or picture; it was so much easier than this.
Who was your intended audience when you decided to write this book?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: We did it as a tribute to Dr Phil Larson who hired both John and I and put his faith in us. We did it for the department; we realized that so few current faculty and trainees knew anything about the people whose shoulders they stand on. We don’t really know who will read the book, but we hope at least those who went to or go to Stanford now do.
What was the hardest/most challenging part of writing this book?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: The biggest challenge was trying to locate people. The Department has no functioning Alumni Association. Any contact information we have is old and no longer accurate. It’s a shame. We have over 600 former residents and hundreds of former faculty, many interested in staying in contact with the department. I hope the department considers re-establishing the Alumni Association. Dr. Bateman is supporting a combined emeriti/book release event at the Faculty Club on Sept 22 and several dozen former residents and faculty have signed on to attend.
Dr. John Brock-Utne: There were even people who lived quite close, who I guess didn’t want to contribute. It’s a shame really.
What was the most the most rewarding/fun part of the project?
Dr. Jay Brodksy: The most fun and rewarding thing for me was contacting and speaking with so many former residents. I am amazed at their accomplishments. Many have had successful academic careers as researchers, department chairs, inventors, businessmen, scientists (outside of anesthesiology), and even artists and professional entertainers. It was wonderful hearing from them.
I didn’t realize how many Chairs, researchers, presidents of CSA, inventors and others who had an outsized influence of the practice of anesthesia came from Stanford. I also didn’t realize how international many of the faculty were.
Dr. Jay Brodsky: Well anesthesia wasn’t a particularly popular subspeciality in the US at the time; many of my co-residents and faculty were foreign-trained. Phil Larson brought over some of the best and brightest as adjunct professors and then encouraged the good ones to stay.
Dr. John Brock-Utne: That’s what happened with me, I came in 1977-8, but for a variety of reasons couldn’t stay after that first year. I came back in 1989 and have been here ever since.
Between you both, you have written several books on history. Do you plan to do anymore?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: The next period is 1982 until the finish of Dr. Larson’s successor, Barrie Fairley in 1993. I counted more than 200 new residents arriving during that period. The Department has NO list of arriving new appointments to the faculty, and the Stanford archives are incomplete. I do not think I will be able to continue this project without some kind of support from the Department or elsewhere.
Jay Brock-Utne: If there were some kind of administrative support to help find all the residents, and faculty and former faculty, I think we’d be willing, but right now it is too much to try and find everyone.
Do you have advice for others who are interested in writing?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: My advice to aspiring authors: if you have the time, it is an enjoyable hobby (especially if you are retired like me), but there is a very limited potential audience (for the history of anesthesia at Stanford) so don’t plan to become a widely-read author. Self-publishing on Amazon makes it really easy; it is free, and whether you are planning a book for 10 readers or 10,000 or more, you can do it on there.
Dr. John Brock-Utne: It really helps if you like writing or are working with someone who does! Jay did all the heavy lifting, and he is a good writer and enjoys it.
Any stories that do not appear in the book that you’d be willing to share?
Dr. Jay Brodsky: Yes, there are stories that don’t appear in the book. Mostly about a few former residents and faculty who have had their medical licenses revoked for various reasons, or got into legal problems not related to medicine. I didn’t think those details should be made public. The one we did share is about a former resident who murdered his wife. You’ll have to read the book to find out more.
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