I Bought His Private Practice.

In 1975 I enjoyed a full-time faculty position at the New Jersey Medical School. I held a joint appointment in the Departments of Psychiatry and Obstetrics/Gynecology and was involved in the development of the Human Sexuality Program. In addition to my duties at the Medical School, I conducted a small, part-time private practice, seeing patients in my office at the Medical School and occasionally borrowing a friend's office in a suburban town. This arrangement is probably familiar to many neophyte practitioners. Through my work in the Human Sexuality Program of the New Jersey Medical School, I was in charge of conducting weekend "Sexual Attitude Reassessment Seminars." At the suggestion of a senior psychologist, I invited a well-known New Jersey psychologist and the then-acting Dean of the Organizing Council for the College of Professional Psychology, a forerunner of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, as a guest. We felt that his presence would be good publicity for our program. It was during this weekend that I was first approached by him with an offer to buy his practice. At the time of the purchase offer, I knew of no other psychologist who had bought a private practice. For details of the contract and purchase process, see the article by Robert Weitz (see record 2005-09169-002). For the young psychologist genuinely interested in developing a private practice, I would recommend seeking a seller. The choice of the seller, of course, is most important. In my case, it was an excellent choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

William L. Stern, 1871–1938: A neglected founder of developmental psychology.

William L. Stern was born in 1871 in Berlin, Germany, and died in 1938 in Durham, North Carolina. Educated at Berlin University, he developed very early a theoretical view to overcome the fundamental split in the academic psychology of his time, between elementarism and wholism on the one hand and environmentalism and nativism on the other. Besides inventing such well-known concepts as IQ, differential psychology, and the nomothetic–idiographic approach, Stern put much effort into developing a personalistic psychology that emphasized both the individual's active role and the importance of context in development. This article focuses on Stern's main contributions to developmental psychology: the activity–reactivity tension in the developing individual; the concept of proximal space, Stern's idea of the location of exchange between the person and the environment; and an alternative conception to children's egocentrism. Parallels to today's concepts are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Primary adenocarcinoma in the urethrorectal fistula

This paper delineates in short the way in which epidemiology and obstetrics and gynaecology could profit from each other's expertise and why. Epidemiology addresses the rates of occurrence in illnesses and their outcomes in relation to potential determinants of these in any realm of medicine. Obstetrics and gynaecology concern themselves with the female reproductive system, notably. Epidemiologic methods are essential to valid research, and obstetrics and gynaecology are essential to valid inference of epidemiologic research.     

Man’s potential: Views of J. F. Lincoln and Wilhelm von Humboldt.

Interest in philosophy of management continues to grow. Growth of the philosophy of management might result from the consideration of man's potential as viewed by two different men, an industrialist and a philosopher. James Finney Lincoln (1883-1965) was president and board chairman of The Lincoln Electric Company for 37 years. During that time, and for 14 previous years when he was the firm's general manager, he developed a philosophy basic to a practice of business management that gained national and international attention. Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) was a very gifted person with many accomplishments including those as a Prussian statesman, a humanist, and a linguistics scholar. A comparison of both men's philosophies reveals the following: (1) In each view man's potentiality was approached by the dynamic, on-going process of developing his latent abilities or powers. (2) Both views stressed freedom as being critical to the development of man's latent abilities or powers. (3) For Lincoln the individual must gain satisfaction from the recognition of developing his latent abilities. For Humboldt the individual must enjoy the 'freedom of developing himself.' (4) Lincoln warned against custom as being a barrier to development since it places man in situations which are without variation, forcing him merely to follow precedent. Humboldt, in addition to freedom, stated that "a variety of situations" is essential for development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural contexts and scientific change in psychology: Kurt Lewin in Iowa.

Kurt Lewin's scientific biography after his 1933 emigration from Nazi Germany and his move to the US exhibits a complex mix of continuity and change. In his work at the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station between 1935 and 1944, Lewin tried to recreate the scientific microculture that had formed around him in Berlin. In the process, he converted biography into theory, adapting to current cultural concerns, to then-prevailing research styles, and to changing institutional and funding networks in American psychology. However, despite their considerable impact at the time, the later reception of Lewin's ideas and methods by American psychologists was ambivalent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An obstetrics and gynaecology graduate residency programme in Venezuela

We present our experience on the design and development of a gynaecology and obstetrics graduate residency programme, developed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Dr Adolfo Prince Lara Hospital, Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, in which medical specialists and residents participate synergistically. From January to September 1993, curricular activities were planned and students selected. The programme started in October 1993, with six residents for a three-year programme. Courses were given by medical specialists from the Department. In addition to a Programme Coordinator, there is also a Residents' Coordinator, appointed for a two-month term of office; specific functions were assigned for residents occupying this position. All the programmed activities for three years were accomplished, including lectures and rotations, with an important record of surgical interventions. In our grade system, residents got an average of 18 over a maximum of 20 points. Residents also participated as speakers in workshops, special courses and national medicinal meetings, in which they presented a total of nine papers. Activities were evaluated bimonthly in meetings with students and each semester by the Graduate Committee. The first class graduated in September 1996. Results suggest that resident participation in graduate programmes is an important part of their education.     

Paul B. Baltes (1939-2006).

Paul B. Baltes died in Berlin, Germany, on November 7, 2006, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was probably the most influential developmental psychologist on the international scene at the time of his death. His broad scientific agenda was devoted to establishing and promoting the life-span orientation of human development-an area that he, more than any other scholar of modern times, shaped into its current form. The obvious part of Paul's scientific legacy resides in over 250 publications covering various aspects of developmental psychology. Their impact is attested to by his numerous awards and honors, including election to some of the most prestigious scientific organizations in the world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extragenital diseases in geriatric-gynecological surgical cases

Of the surgical cases accumulated in 18 departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology in West Berlin from 1960 through 1969 6662 major procedures were performed on women of at least 60 years of age. In 282 cases (4,2%) surgery was carried out for primarily extragenital gynecological disorders: 119 malignant tumors, 16 benign tumors, and 147 other diseases of extragenital orgin. The postoperative mortality of these patients (89 deaths; 29,8%) was markedly higher than that observed for the whole group (7,7%). This difference may have been caused by the greater extensiveness of the underlying disease in the former group as well as the unsatisfactory utilization of preoperative diagnostic procedures found in some instances. The cooperation with surgeons prior to and during surgery may still be improved upon. In 98 patients (1,5%) operative procedures for additional surgical disorders were performed simultaneously. Especially in those cases where additional appendectomies were carried out, it appears that total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy might have been the treatment of choice for the underlying disease.     

Ultrastructural pattern of glucagon producing-cells in the gastric mucosa of the developing opossum Didelphis albiventris (Marsupialia)

We present the case of a 59-year-old woman with an International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIB serous psammocarcinoma. Only 12 cases of this rare ovarian neoplasm have been reported previously. These tumors act like borderline tumors and, therefore, do not usually require chemotherapy or radiation therapy after appropriate surgical debulking and staging.     

The quality of citations in major international obstetrics and gynecology journals

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine the error rate in references in articles published in three major international journals in obstetrics and gynecology. STUDY DESIGN: All issues (excluding supplements) for the year 1995 of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology were examined. References were numbered sequentially, and 50 randomly selected references from each journal were checked against the original for accuracy. RESULTS: Errors were found in the majority of references. The lowest error rate was 55.6% from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the highest was 66.7% from the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The difference between journals was not statistically significant. The most frequent types of error were in the title of the article or in the authors' names. CONCLUSIONS: Error rates in major international journals in obstetrics and gynecology are high, and care must be taken by authors and journal staff to improve the quality of published articles.     

Appointment of new editor.

The Executive Committee of the Society of Theoretical and Philosophical Society (Division 24 of APA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas Teo as the fifth editor of Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (JTPP). Thomas Teo received his doctorate of philosophy from the University of Vienna, Austria, and has worked as a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education in Berlin, Germany. He is now Associate Professor in the History and Theory of Psychology Program at York University, Toronto. His research in historical and theoretical psychology is based on critical-hermeneutic analyses. He has also published on the transformation of psychology in nineteenth-century German philosophical psychology and on the history of race psychology and scientific racism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medical liability lawsuits according to specialties in Chile

One-hundred forty-five cases of medical liability lawsuits originating in Chile from January 1987 to June 1991 and studied at the Medico Legal Service, were reviewed. A persistent increase in the number of accusations is observed in these five years. The principal medical specialties involved are Obstetrics and Gynecology (32%), General Surgery (18%), Internal Medicine (15%) and Pediatrics (9%). Seventy seven percent of implicated physicians were accredited specialists. Fifty percent of cases originated from Santiago and 60% from public hospitals. Eighty three percent of analyzed medical records were complete and in 70% the number of laboratory tests requested was adequate. The most frequent conditions that motivated lawsuits were acute fetal distress and puerperal sepsis in Obstetrics and Gynecology, acute abdomen and intra-operatory cardiac arrests in Surgery and sepsis in Internal Medicine. The risk of an unfavorable consequence that may lead to a lawsuit is present in every clinical condition, even in seemingly simple situations.     

The J-domain family and the recruitment of chaperone power

Since the early twenties several institutes of the Veterinary College in Berlin were involved in the development of microchemical analyzing methods for doping-alkaloids and clinical studies in doped race horse. This research made it possible to build national acting structures against the abuse of doping in race horses, which soon became a model for similar activities in other countries, for instance Greece, Japan and the United States. Concerning the results of their research, the scientists of the Veterinary College in Berlin have got an enormous part in fighting against doping in race horses in Germany. In the year 1943 the second world war led to a stagnation of the development of spectroscopical methods and clinical investigations of this field.     

Richard Haig Walters.

Presents an obituary for Dr. Richard Haig Walters whose death on December 27th, 1967 shocked and saddened his many friends. Dr. Walters was the first permanent chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo; a director of the Canadian Psychological Association and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Association. In the year prior to his death, he was Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Oxford University. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical aspects of amniotic fluid embolism

At the Clinic Obstetrics and Gynecology, Allgemeines Krankenhaus Celle, two cases of amniotic fluid embolism were observed. The first case showed the two characteristic phases of the disease (cardiopulmonary shock followed by severe disseminated intravascular coagulopathy). During the onset of the cardiorespiratory symptoms, the patient underwent cesarean section and a healthy infant was born. The mother survived. The other patient died of cardiopulmonary arrest. Cesarean section was carried out immediately. At first, the infant was heavily depressed, but further development was normal. Inspite of great advances in intensive care amniotic fluid embolism still is considered to be a very dangerous event with 86% maternal mortality.     

Awards for distinguished professional contributions: Robert D. Weitz.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Robert D. Weitz, this year's (1994) winner of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions--Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Psychology as a Professional Practice. From Weitz's citation: "Dr. Robert D. Weitz has filled a lifetime of energy, enthusiasm, and achievement into his 50-plus year career in professional psychology. As a clinician, educator, editor, and activist, he has been an inspiration and role model for generations of clinical and applied psychologists who have benefited from the efforts of the early pioneers of the profession. More than a dreamer, Bob has manifested the ability to turn ideas into reality, with the development of his own successful clinical practice, the evolution of two professional schools of psychology, a scholarly journal for practitioners, and the significant advances for the profession in the political arena. Of his greatest accomplishment, he has obtained these goals while earning and maintaining the love and respect of his colleagues and preserving an unmatched zest for life and people." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proceedings: Electroencephalographic studies on stroke in stroke-prone SHR. (2). Approach to stroke

After reviewing the charts of patients at the Tulane Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Charity Hospital between the years 1950 and 1970, 25 patients were noted to have carcinoma in situ of the cervix uteri associated with pregnancy. Twenty-two patients had positive Papanicolaou smears. Subsequently, 20 patients had conization of the cervix uteri to exclude an invasive lesion. Vaginal delivery was accomplished in 17 of the patients. After complete re-evaluation, definite treatment was done six to eight weeks post partum, and there were no recurrences or deaths from the disease.     

Robert J. Wherry, Sr. (1904-1981).

This obituary describes the professional career of Robert J. Wherry, which spanned 48 years, from 1927 to 1975. Wherry was an exceptional example of a quantitative-industrial psychologist who was able to make independent, original academic contributions, and yet have an exceptional understanding of problems of application. Throughout his career, two of Wherry's overriding interests were in the development and application of statistical models for prediction and factor analysis. In addition to his contributions to the quantitative literature, Wherry made substantial contributions to industrial psychology, publishing extensively in the industrial literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)