The Enduring Legacy of James Edgar Paullin, MD by Bookhouse Group

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF

James Edgar Paullin, MD

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF

James Edgar Paullin, MD BY C A RTER SMITH J R ., M D

SALLY WOLFF KING, PHD & SYLVIA WROBEL, PHD, GENERAL EDITORS

James Edgar Paullin, MD. U.S. Official Navy photograph.

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF

James Edgar Paullin, MD Copyright © 2021 The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center 1440 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322 www.whsc.emory.edu Carter Smith Jr., MD Author Sally Wolff King, PhD Sylvia Wrobel, PhD General Editors Book Development Bookhouse Group, Inc. www.bookhouse.net Covington, Georgia Rob Levin Editor Rick Korab Designer Bob Land Copy Editor Shoshana Hurwitz Indexer Renée Peyton Production Manager ISBN - 978-1-5323-3925-7

James Edgar Paullin in the class of 1905 at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Image courtesy of the Chesney Archives of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health.

DE DIC AT ION

This book is dedicated to the memory of J. Edgar Paullin, MD, and to the holders of the endowed chairs, established in the Department of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine, in honor of Drs. Paullin, Henry Cliff Sauls, and William Carter Smith.

C ON T EN T S

Acknowledgments | viii Prologue | x Building on the Shoulders of Giants

Introduction | xvi Atlanta History During the Era of James Edgar Paullin, MD

Chapter One | 1 James Edgar Paullin, MD ’43H A Distinguished Life in Medicine

Chapter Two | 51 Henry Cliff Sauls, MD ’13M Medical Excellence and a Trust for the Future

Chapter Three | 61 William Carter Smith, MD ’24C, ’26M The Paullin Legacy Continues: Local and National Leadership

I N T RODUC T ION

viii

T H E EN DU R I NG L E G AC Y OF JA M E S E D G A R PAU L L I N, M D C H A P T E R

O N E

James Edgar Paullin, MD ’43H A Distinguished Life in Medicine

ur deep gratitude goes to donors who generously supported this book: they include Dr. and Mrs. David T. Watson; Charles H. (Pete) McTier, Emory University Trustee Emeritus and former president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; the Community Foundation of Atlanta; Clyde Partin Jr., MD., Gary W. Rollins Professorship and Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine; Sally A. West, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine; Stephen D. Clements Jr., MD, the R. Harold Harrison Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine; Armand Hendee, MD, Professor Emeritus of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University School of Medicine; Marian Powell, RN; Michael Wallace; Solon Patterson; William Lide; and Carter Smith Jr., MD. Also special thanks go to the James Edgar Paullin Book Advisory Committee for their generous consultations and substantive comments across multiple drafts of the manuscript. They are Charles H. (Pete) McTier, and former president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; Gilbert D. Grossman, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Emory University School of Medicine, and Stephen D. Clements Jr., MD, the R. Harold Harrison Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine; Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA, Professor Emerita of Medicine (Cardiology), Emory University School of Medicine; Consultant, Emory Heart and Vascular Center; Founding Consultant, Emory Women’s Heart Center; Armand Hendee, MD; Clyde Partin Jr., MD, Gregory H. Jones, EdD, MBA, MSC, associate vice president for health affairs, Emory University; and Carter Smith Jr., MD. Gratitude for support and advice also goes to Armand Hendee, MD, who still remembers James Edgar Paullin, whom Hendee first knew as his medical school professor. Dr. Hendee’s recollections have enriched this book (see p. xix). Great

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF JAMES EDGAR PAULLIN, MD

thanks also go to Juha Kokko, MD, PhD, Emeritus Asa Candler Professor and Chair of Medicine (Nephrology), Emory University School of Medicine. He contributed reflections on William Osler’s teaching method (see p. 12). Our thanks go also to Charles R. Hatcher Jr., MD, cardiovascular surgeon, director and CEO of the Emory Clinic from 1976 to 1984 and vice president for health affairs and director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center from 1984 to 1996. We also appreciate the support of James B. “Jimmy” Williams and Quentin Pirkle, MD, for guidance and advice. Our gratitude also goes to Jon Lewin, MD, executive vice president for health affairs, Woodruff Health Sciences Center; Gary Teal, vice president, Woodruff Health Sciences Center; Gregory Jones, associate vice president for health affairs, all of Emory University; Nancy Runner, division director, Human Resources, Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs; and Melanie Lingerfelt, project coordinator, Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, for their support with the manuscript. We thank Patrick Battey, MD, CEO of Piedmont Hospital, for reviewing the manuscript. We thank Ralph Haynes, MD, and Joe Miller III, MD, for advice and counsel. We also thank, for their steadfast and excellent contributions, Gary S. Hauk, PhD, Emory University Historian Emeritus; John Bence, university archivist; Kathy Shoemaker, research services coordinator; and Courtney Chartier, head of research services, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library; Kay Hinton, Hallie Edwards, and the staff of Emory Photo and Video; Sandra Franklin, director, Woodruff Health Sciences Library; Emily Corbin, senior archive specialist; and Ashley Stephens, archivist, Historical Collections, LEAF Communications Coordinator, Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library; Wyatt Kane Photography, Atlanta, Georgia; and Rebecca Park and Ariel Kaminetzky, who assisted with research. We also appreciate the kind assistance of Ruthy Cunningham, senior associate director of Programs, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University Advancement and Alumni Engagement; Tom Lawley, senior director of Development, School of Medicine Alumni, Emory University School of Medicine; Alex

J. EDGAR PAULLIN, MD ’43H

Edgar Paullin, father of James Edgar Paullin. Courtesy of Gail Minnich Watson.

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF JAMES EDGAR PAULLIN, MD

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Class of 1905. James Edgar Paullin, seated, first row, far right. Image courtesy of the Chesney Archives of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health.

Brown, senior associate vice president for Principal Gifts, Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, and the Emory Medical Alumni. Dr. Carter Smith extends personal thanks to his devoted wife, Laura Smith, and loving daughters, Allison Smith Freeland and Tinsley Smith, for their support and encouragement. He adds that “Laura has always been my best friend and supporter, and Allison and Tinsley have given me both joy and encouragement throughout their childhoods and successful adult lives. I could not be more proud of them both—as well as my two grandchildren, twins Brooke and Carter Freeland. I give my wonderful family full credit for supporting me in the endeavor of writing this book and for all that I have achieved in my life.”

J. EDGAR PAULLIN, MD ’43H

a Building on the Shoulders of Giants

his book focuses on the legacy of James Edgar Paullin, MD, and the leaders in medicine he mentored, especially Henry Clifford Sauls and William Carter Smith. Both men, like Paullin, were dedicated to the Emory University School of Medicine and taught at a time when the young institution depended on volunteers from the community. Like Paullin, both men also were deeply involved in the growth and development of Piedmont Hospital. Their loyalty to one institution strengthened their loyalty to the other. Such a book is necessary, even though Paullin’s medical contributions, including his care of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, have been well documented in the national medical literature. Here at home, as Atlanta has grown into a nationally recognized center for health care and medical education, Paullin’s contributions and those of the people he mentored take on even more significance with the passing of time, and his influence still resonates, albeit almost silently, in the physicians and institutions of today. This book tells that story. Carter Smith Jr., MD, decided to be the storyteller because he is one of the few people living who knew Dr. Paullin and the people whom he met either in his early childhood or professional medical training. Certainly Smith saw—beginning in his childhood when he accompanied his father, William Carter Smith, MD, on ward rounds, and then later through medical practice alongside his father and along with his medical partner H. Cliff (Jake) Sauls, MD— the powerful influence Paullin had on these men and on the greater medical and medical education community. Smith observed how they valued and worked to strengthen the relationship between Emory University School of Medicine and Piedmont Hospital. While the book hopefully will be of general interest, Smith wrote it in large part with three readers in mind: the selected holders of the endowed chairs that honor Drs. Paullin, Sauls, and Smith, in the Emory University School of Medicine, so that they will know the background