UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #677
FRIEDMAN, AARON L.

FRIEDMAN, Aaron L. (1948- )
Intern; Resident; Fellow; Chief resident; Chairman, Pediatrics Department
At UW: 1974-2004

Interviewed: 2004	
Interviewer: Barry Teicher
Length: 3 hours, 2 minutes

Early education; Undergraduate years at Cornell; Emergent interest in medicine; SUNY-Syracuse Medical School; Residency at UW; Russell Chesney; Pediatric nephrology at UW; Move to the new University Hospital; Experience as Vice-Chair and Chair of Pediatrics Department; Support staff; Changes in Pediatrics and medical education; Research; University Committee; Leaving UW.

First Interview Session (June 8, 2004): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:15	Aaron Friedman was born in Bad Dreifenhal, Germany, a displaced persons camp, in 1948.  He and his parents came to the US later that year.

00:02:30	He began his schooling in Miami, FL, and attended high school in Silver Spring, MD.  He talks about his parents' background.  

00:03:40	AF describes at length several influential teachers.  He recalls a science teacher in middle school who had a significant impact on him; high school English teachers who were especially influential because his parents could scarcely speak English; and a high school science teacher.

00:11:10	Despite having no college education themselves, his parents fully expected AF to attend college.

00:12:49	He intended to study biology in college; at Cornell, he enrolled in the School of Agriculture because it was cheaper.  He funded his education through scholarships, loans, and work-study.

00:15:36	He discusses his experience at Cornell.  He was diverted from becoming a marine biologist by an emergent interest in medicine and the Vietnam War.  From 1968-70, the campus was partially shut down on account of student protest.

00:17:43	Courses in genetics and comparative physiology strengthened his interest in medicine.

00:19:02	AF discusses applying to medical school and enrolling in the SUNY-Syracuse Medical School (called at the time the Upstate Medical Center).

00:19:45	As an undergraduate, he worked at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD.

00:21:21	He lists the merits of attending medical school at SUNY-Syracuse.

00:22:20	He traces the evolution of his interest in pediatrics and describes at length his mentor, Frank Oski, the chair of pediatrics in Syracuse, who was the most important factor in AF's decision to be a pediatrician.

00:29:42	AF also describes the influence of Robert Hall, a surgeon.

00:31:15	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:16	Aaron Friedman notes that his medical school curriculum prepared him well for his career.

00:32:06	He found general pediatric practice unappealing and had become more interested in the working of the kidneys–paradoxically, because he did not fully understand how they worked.  When applying to be an intern in 1974, he looked for nephrology programs.

00:34:06	He describes how he and his wife came to Madison, which offered both a nephrology program for him and an English literature program for her.	

00:34:45	AF begins to talk about the progression of his career from intern to resident to fellow to chief resident.  		
	
00:35:59	He describes Russell Chesney, his mentor in nephrology.  

00:37:17	As a chief resident, he gained administrative experience; although he disliked hearing complaints, he learned a great deal about time management.  During this time, he worked in the lab, conducted research, had responsibility for residents, and had his first child.

00:38:40	He collaborated closely with Chesney on research and mentions some other research fellows.

00:40:30	He talks about the nature of pediatric nephrology and the opportunities it has given him to make acquaintances and travel.

00:43:54	After concluding his studies at UW, he went to Duke to be an assistant professor.  Due to budgetary constraints at Duke, he returned to Madison and rejoined Chesney.

00:46:33	AF considers the reputation of pediatric nephrology at UW, which was given a boost by the arrival of transplant surgeon Folkert Belzer.  

00:50:04	He discusses the old hospital facilities and the sense of camaraderie it fostered among the staff.  He contrasts this with being separated from colleagues in the new hospital.

00:53:28	He found the new space adequate for pediatrics and evaluates the merits and demerits of being located there.

00:55:14	He describes the process of moving into the new hospital.

00:58:48	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

00:58:49	Aaron Friedman talks about the tenure process and the deviation of his research from Chesney's.

01:01:39	He discusses the growth of the Pediatrics Department and cites greater demand for specialist services and more complete care for younger children as factors in this growth.  More effective neonatal care also provided more children to care for.  He thinks that academic programs in pediatrics have been strengthened by greater funding for research.

01:06:06	AF names some prominent faculty in the Department of Pediatrics, including Norm Frost.

01:07:24	He talks about the emergence of medical ethics in the 1960s and Norm Frost's prominence in research on medical ethics.

01:10:31	He goes on to talk about other prominent Pediatrics faculty, including Nasrollah Shahidi, Richard Hong, and Robert Cook.

01:12:21	He addresses the diversification of the pediatrics field and speculates as to why pediatrics rapidly acquired high levels of female interns.  He notes that the Department's success in recruiting minorities has been less successful.

01:16:32	AF discusses at length the changing role and responsibilities of the department chair. 

01:20:51	He describes Philip Farrell's leadership style as chair of Pediatrics.

01:23:48	Farrell chose AF to serve as Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs.  He describes his responsibilities in this position.

01:25:15	He talks about his tenure as chair of Pediatrics and some of the problems he encountered, including faculty turnover.

01:29:58	End of side.

Tape 2/Side 2

01:30:00	Aaron Friedman considers that overall he has enjoyed his tenure as chair of Pediatrics, although he lists some annoyances.

01:32:41	He describes the organizational structure of the Pediatrics Department’s administration.  He goes on to talk about Chris Green, who served as Vice-Chair under AF.

01:35:24	The most important issue he faced as Chair–and that will continue to be important–was to balance clinical care with excellence in teaching.

01:37:10	In his ten years as Chair, AF hired 25-30 new faculty.  He relates two stories about these new hires to shed light on the recruitment process.

01:40:31	He talks about his efforts as Chair to rebuild the intensive care unit.

01:41:46	AF and Barry Teicher discuss reasons for job turnover in medicine and other academic fields.

01:45:54	While serving as Chair, he found it difficult to maintain his research activities, particularly because he took up responsibility for fund-raising for the new children’s hospital.  He estimates that at least half of his time is consumed with administration.

01:46:34	He elaborates on his fund-raising responsibilities.

01:48:37	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview session.

Second Interview Session (June 9, 2004): Tapes 3-4

Tape 3/Side 1

00:00:16	Aaron Friedman discusses his laboratory support staff and praises the services of Rita Pityer. 

00:01:48	AF describes his administrative assistant Sue Burke.

00:04:07	He talks about Marsha Wendt, the administrator for the Department of Pediatrics.

00:05:23	He elaborates on the biggest changes in the Pediatrics Department since he arrived in 1981:  the growth of the department, both in complexity and in ability to provide care, but also the fragmentation of departmental identity and loss of camaraderie.  He believes that the construction of the new children’s hospital will rectify this situation.

00:09:25	AF assesses the importance of the apprenticeship model of medical training.  He goes on to talk about teaching more generally: he thinks that the use of cadavers to teach gross anatomy will diminish because of the availability of virtual reality.

00:12:39	He fears that the Socratic method of teaching in medicine is disappearing because of emphasis on time management.

00:14:39	Another major change in medical education is the opportunity for independent learning that is afforded by new technology.

00:15:38	AF talks about classroom teaching and the prospects for problem-based learning.  He mentions a course called “Patient, Doctor and Society” that addresses professionalism and other issues.

00:17:45	One of the major shifts in medical education since AF attended medical school is the new emphasis on assessment and observation of students’ abilities to perform physicals, etc.

00:20:28	He describes courses he teaches, such as renal pathophysiology, and relates his wonder at the functioning of the kidney.

00:23:38	He discusses the evolution of his teaching technique.

00:26:54	The explosion of knowledge and availability of information–due primarily to computer technology–provide unique challenges to physicians to incorporate knowledge into their practice.  He thinks that teachers must train medical students to be effective life-long learners.

00:31:21	End of side.

Tape 3/Side 2

00:31:23	Aaron Friedman continues to talk about integrating life-long learning into the residency program.

00:34:14	He thinks medical students have changed their focus over time; when he was a student, most students plunged themselves completely into medicine, while now most students actively prevent the profession from becoming all-consuming of their lives.

00:36:14	AF describes one of his most promising current residents and a past resident.

00:40:30	He discusses at length his research interests in the progression of kidney failure and its relationship to protein.

00:44:14	He comments on the applicability of adult experiments to children, as well as some aspects of his experiments on rats and the impact of technology on experimental design.

00:48:59	AF found that protein restriction was not beneficial to young animals.  Experiments also demonstrated the potentially harmful effects on the kidney of growth hormones, although this study was not applicable to humans.

00:52:38	He misses conducting research and doubts that he would be able to resume because he would have to catch up on current technologies.

00:53:45	He talks about the funding for his research, public perceptions of research grants, and the importance of research at UW.

00:58:58	AF discusses faculty governance, including his chairmanship of the University Committee.  He stresses the necessity of faculty governance in fostering a sense of community at UW.

01:02:38	End of side.  End of tape.

Tape 4/Side 1

01:02:41	Aaron Friedman continues to describe the working relationship between faculty and administration in the University Committee.

01:04:36	He lists some of the typical issues addressed in the University Committee.

01:08:23	He describes the painstaking decision to leave UW for a larger children’s hospital at Brown University, where he will be Pediatrician in Chief and Chair in the Department of Pediatrics.

01:11:33	AF describes his sense of fulfillment in being able to team up with his colleagues at UW.

01:13:35	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview.

END