Gary Peter Segal – 50th Reunion Essay

Gary Peter Segal

61 Cove Lane

Redwood City, CA 94065

garycabo@gmail.com

714-791-7502

Spouse(s): Phyllis (m. 1978)

Child(ren): Elana, Joshua, Erin, Daniel

Grandchild(ren): Rachel, Joseph, Milo, Elijah

Education: Univ of Pennsylvania 1973, MD; Resident/Fellow UCLA 1975–1980

Career: Physician (Internal Medicine / Infectious Disease); Clinical Professor UC Irvine

Avocations: Yale Russian Chorus Alumni

College: Jonathan Edwards

Now retired, I spent 38 years practicing and teaching internal medicine and infectious disease at the University of California–Irvine and the Long Beach Veterans Medical Center. The words below reflect some thoughts about teaching.

Advice to Colleagues

It’s true, technicians can be trained

And excellence can be attained

If youthful minds are well restrained

From wandering

But teaching technicalities

While drowning curiosity

Strikes me as an absurdity

And stifling

Professorial ultimata

Mold the unindoctrinata

Until they’re overwhelmed by data

And floundering

Be not confused about the mission

The sick need more than mere technicians

Our purpose is to train physicians

For comforting

Mark well these words

Heed well this view

These youths will someday doctor you

That’s sobering

So foster sensitivity

In place of impassivity

Encourage tries at poetry

And wandering