Please would I remove a dead rat from the trap? I did! Uncle Bobby was, again, just fine and pleased to see me. The socially registered of Chestnut Hill continued to think well of "the compleat physician."

Like Dr. Radebaugh, I never wore a white coat either on house calls or within the great MGH, though my peers wore them—all the way down to their knees! I always felt it created a psychological gulf between doctor and patient, although my daughter, a resident at your magnificent hospital, disagrees. As a doctor, one should, as Rudyard Kipling put it, be able to "walk with kings—nor lose the common touch." I am now 85 years old and loved every minute of my career, especially the house calls, and I love every issue of your excellent journal.

John W. Keller, M.D.
Nahant, Mass.

Laudable approach
I read the article "House Calls with John" with keen interest, for I remember when our family doctor made house calls. My mother did not drive and my father used our car to commute to his work as a police officer. Public transportation in our farming community was poor. Our Dr. Lundberg made his hospital rounds first thing in the morning, then did house calls, and later held office hours in the afternoon—so I am somewhat familiar with the subject.

"House Calls with John" is well written and contains numerous true-life examples of real house-call experiences in a variety of venues across the country. Dr. Radebaugh has had several careers of medical practice and recounts them in a pleasant, easily read style to make the case for house calls in any general medical practice.

Dr. Radebaugh's recounting of the importance of house calls should resonate in the minds of many of your

We're always glad to hear from readers about matters pertaining to medicine at Dartmouth or to the contents of past issues of Dartmouth Medicine. Letters to the editor may be sent to DartMed@Dartmouth.edu. Letters may be edited for clarity, length, or the appropriateness of the subject matter.

professional readers, including medical students. Not every medical doctor will subscribe to Dr. John's somewhat philanthropic approach to his various practices over the years, but it is laudable and should remind all physicians of the value of house calls. I mentioned the article to a family physician I know, and he scoffed at the idea, claiming that making house calls is a highly inefficient approach to medical practice. He claimed that anyone who is so sick as to want a house call belongs in a hospital. Of course I didn't argue but I'm aware that he was looking at it strictly from the point of view of the physician's time and not from the viewpoint of the patient in need of qualified attention. Besides, he did not address the questions of where is the hospital, how does the patient get there, and at what cost to the medical care system.

Our Dr. Lundberg mentioned above, after a normal retirement, lived to a good old age in quite comfortable circumstances, so I don't think we can assume that

making house calls equates with physician poverty.

Herbert K. Seymour
Falmouth, Maine

Grace note noted
I enjoyed the article "House Calls with John" by Dr. John Radebaugh. I played in a recorder group with him before he retired to Maine. He clearly made good use of his musical talents during his career. I can't evaluate his approach to medicine, not having a medical background myself, but if I were a patient I'd be thrilled to find a doctor so attentive to my needs.

Burton Bickford, DC '44
White River Junction, Vt.

Peripatetic passion
I am a faithful reader of Dartmouth Medicine and was delighted to find the article by John Radebaugh in your Spring issue. He (with his wife, Dottie) was a neighbor at Dartmouth's Sachem Village in the early 1950s, when we were both interns at Hitchcock. I have wondered where his career took him. Now I know. He's certainly had a peripatetic existence and a career driven by honesty and compassion, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has known him.

Though my almost-stay-put career looks dull by comparison, I had a great time, too, and hope I also made a difference. Like John, I learned early on the value of house calls. The norm when I began practice was that after hospital rounds, the morning was for house calls. Morning office hours were many years in the future. I bought a geodetic survey map to find the back roads. In those days, there was no charge for mileage and you could carry pretty much what you needed in your black bag.

I was glad to learn that John came full circle and ended his career back in Hanover. I might have wound up there, too. I stayed on at Hitchcock after internship for another year of general