Arthur I. Segal, MD – 50th Reunion Essay

Arthur I. Segal, MD

PO Box 182

Deer Harbor, WA 98243

Asegalplus69@gmail.com

(805) 305-1570

Spouse(s): Angela Sumner Segal (2010)

Child(ren): Natalie(26), Rachel(23), Josh(23), Aaron Sussman(34)

Education: University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine(1973); Residency Obstetrics & Gynecology, LAC/USC Medical Center, 1977

Career: Clinical Practice Obstetrics/Gynecology, 40 years; Director Ob/Gyn Services San Luis Obispo County, 25 years

Avocations: American College Obstetrics/Gynecology-District Chair, Pacific Coast Obstetrical/Gynecological Society. Fitness, hiking, biking, skiing

College: Silliman

Life is a metaphorical journey, principally planned and forwardly directed, often spontaneous, even haphazard, populated with distractions, necessitating readjustments. Looking backward, I can recreate chronologically my arrival at this vantage point and the influences that sculpted the journey. Most meaningful is understanding both the scheduled and incidental, serendipitous forces which indelibly flavored the path.

Euphoric with my Yale admission, I correctly anticipated a far-reaching impact upon my life. Accessible faculty taught a gifted student body, effecting calls for requisite high achievement and leadership. These inbred forces still predominate today. However, broader unscheduled social, moral, and ethical lessons flavored that learning.

I started Yale a mixture of unrefined strengths and weakness. Those years reconfigured both. The skills learned were analysis, critical thinking, effective written and verbal self-expression. Enhanced self-discipline, self-belief, curiosity, and honesty resulted. These proficiencies became foundational at every subsequent stage of life and endeavor. They fostered adaptability, resourcefulness, and creativity.

Simultaneous were life lessons, some welcome, others not. Religious bias and racial prejudice were too evident. Self-confidence was routinely challenged, self-awareness frequently absent. Compassion and concern were needed, noble, but often absent. A supportive social network was critically important, the learned lessons essential lifelong.

In my memory, this was Yale.

Later, scientific method and fact were essential studying medicine, deductive thinking provided diagnostic and treatment options. Process and discipline were mandatory, subjective preference led to a career in women’s health care. I cherished the specialty’s breadth of medical and surgical applications. Further discovery kept changing my niche, encouraging new areas of curiosity and proficiency.

However mundane experiences remain indelible. Early in independent practice I recommended a Caesarean birth, a decision made many times previously. This time I stood alone, without supportive faculty oversight. This was the moment of true self-sufficiency, after years of preparation. There was no one else but me! While this scenario replayed countless times in later years, I cherish the memory of that moment as the beginning.

Bittersweet was a tragic encounter with a couple whose baby had died before labor. Unforgotten are the overwhelming sadness, tears, and helplessness making sense of that inexplicable loss. Accepting nature’s natural selection, I became, nonetheless, even more compulsively committed in my work.

Years later, skiing with friends in a remote Canadian location, excitement quickly turned when a class-three avalanche engulfed us, sweeping away a dear friend positioned mere meters from me, witnessed by his disconsolate wife, who like me was spared. Overwhelmed, I used my radio transceiver, locating him a quarter mile away, seven feet beneath the surface. Frantically digging by hand, we rescued our unconscious friend, performing CPR in the field. I have relived that seeming miracle, and cherish that friendship to this day.

Ten years ago, I engaged an airplane seat-mate in innocent banter. We enjoyed dinner, and now our nine-year marriage. She has embraced me, loving my children unconditionally. We remain committed to each other, our children, and as Angela eloquently states, “to whosever need is greatest!”

Now that’s a happy ending!