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Vital Signs
Then & Now
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the 1981 DHMC Annual Review:
"Short Stay Surgery offers healthy people an opportunity to have elective, non emergency surgical procedures in a single day," noted a description of one of DHMC's then-new services, which opened in July 1980.
1,400
Approximate number of
same-day procedures in 1981
9,600
Approximate number of
such procedures in 2008
15%
Percentage of all surgical
procedures done on a
same-day basis in 1981
53%
Percentage done on a
same-day basis in 2008
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the 1957-58 DMS Bulletin:
The first-year course in Human Histology is "devoted to the microscopy of the cells, tissues, and organs of the human body. . . . Each student is provided with a 300-slide loan collection containing material from all parts of the body. . . . In addition to the student sets, there is available a collection of many thousand slides of human and other vertebrate specimens which are used for demonstration."
150
Number of slides per student
in 2008-09-plus numerous
"virtual microscopy" slides
available on the web
139
Hours in the 1957-58 course
74
Hours in the equivalent
course in 2008-09
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the November-December 1978 issue of "Hitchcock Highlights" newsletter:
"I was born at Mary Hitchcock, I grew up right behind it, and two of my children were born there, so naturally I can't help but have an active interest in the place," said new MHMH board member Joan "Posey" Fowler. "When I was seven years old," she added, "a friend and I got stuck waist-deep in clay while playing near [a Hitchcock] building site. . . . We couldn't move. . . . Some kind men from the Hospital's engineering services department got us out. . . . You can see [why] I have fond and special feelings about joining the board."
2007
Year Fowler was named
DHMC's Outstanding
Community Ambassador
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the Spring 1979 issue of this magazine:
In a feature on the effects of seasonal change on the human psyche, Dr. Peter Whybrow, a professor of psychiatry, wrote: "It is in our study of the brain and nervous system that an awareness of the rhythmic nature of many behavior patterns may bear the greatest fruit. . . . Disturbances of these sensitive mechanisms of integration and communication are thought to underlie most serious mental illnesses. . . . There seems to be a peak in the incidence of these illnesses in the spring."
10,510
Number of outpatient
psychiatric visits in 1979
38,293
Number of outpatient
psychiatric visits in 2007
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