Fall 2003 Vol. 17
ISSN 1049-2259
A TRIBUTE TO BARBARA BATES, M.D. MAY
By N
EVI LLE
E.
5, 1928 - DECEMBER 18, 2002
STR MPF ,
PHD, FAAN
On December 18, 2002, Dr. Barbara Bates d ied of Alzheim ~ r' s di , ease, and wi th her pn:ising the Center for !be Study of the Hi tory of Nursing lost a generous benefactor, a superb scholar and mentor, and a true fri end . From the broad commu ni ty o f medici ne, nurs ing, and hi sto ry, hun dreds of letters came to the Center or to Barbara' s friend of more than 30 years, Joan Lynaugh . On February 2, 2003 , people from around the I.:ountry, fam ily, longtime rriends (one of more lhan 50 years). fonn er students, and colleagues gal h red at the College o f Phy icians in P hiladelphia to celebrate her Iife. The p{)ntaneou tributes illustrated with wi t insigh t, and poignancy th e life of a talented and independe nt woman who was also brill iant, cbarming, funn y, and compassionate. Barbara was bam in Aubu rn , New York, was an bonor stude nt at the Hathaway Bro wn School i.n Cleveland, Oh io, and wen t to Smith College, where she graduated Phi Beta Ka ppa in 1949. She deBarbara Bates working on her /ilms c ided to pursue a career in medi ine, attend ing Com II U niversity Medica l College, whe r she rema in d for an addi tional five years as resident physician and lect urer. Later, at the Uni vers it... of Kent ucky , Barbara became very interested in interdisc ip lina ry practice and education and began to investigate and to wri te about pro bl ms in de livering health care and teaching COIn prehensivc me(Jj cinc.
Center for The Study of The History of Nursing UNIVER ITY OF PEN SY1.VA ' IA
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Barbara was nex t recruj[cd to the Universil or Rochester and wh ile there gain d national and international rec()gnition a - an o ut standing Profes 'or o f Medi cine and om activist in interdi sciplinary hea lth care . She was an instrum ental pl aye r in the conception of the nurse practjtioner role and from th is wo rk grew her well known book , A Guide to Physical Examination and History Tak ing. which was fi rst pu bli 5hed in 1974. Barbara oversa w 7 editions of the book, which was eventu ally transl ated into 1 1 languages; it became , and still is, the leading text in it field. At the 4th Ann ual Hannah Happeni ng in 1(92 at Q ueens University in K ings ton, Ontario , Barbara described for an aud ience o f medica l students tile les sons learned from writing the book. She reveals Lhe proble ms with gende r-free
Ne vi!le E. Strump/' PhD, RN. C. FAAN is the Edith Clemmer Ste illbright Professo r in G eronto!ogy, and Director of the Center/or GerO rt lo !og i~' N ursillf1, Science at th e Un iversity oj" Pellnsylvania Schoo! of N urs ing, (continued on pag e 8)