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Editorial
. 2022 Mar 14;18(2):117-123.
doi: 10.14797/mdcvj.1086. eCollection 2022.

Selma and Lois DeBakey: Icons of Medical Preservation

Jeffrey S Reznick  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Selma and Lois DeBakey: Icons of Medical Preservation

Jeffrey S Reznick. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. .

Abstract

INTRODUCTION In his 2016 article published in this journal, Dr. William Winters described Selma and Lois DeBakey as "icons of medical communication" who believed that "nothing hinders communication as much as words, when they are used badly or incorrectly."1 This article bookends Winters' description by explaining how Selma and Lois DeBakey were also "icons of medical preservation" who asked, "Shall we nourish the biomedical archives as a viable and indispensable source of information, or shall we bury their ashes and lose a century or more of consequential scientific history?"2 In addressing this question posed by Selma and Lois DeBakey and spotlighting their answers in their own engaging words, we highlight the relevance of their advocacy for the medical humanities and its influence to inform humanistic approaches to science and medicine. More broadly, their advocacy inspires us to appreciate the historical record as we think critically about how we communicate the experience of medicine and science, learn from it today, and preserve it for tomorrow.

Keywords: communication; history; humanities; preservation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author has no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Selma and Lois DeBakey
Figure 1
Selma and Lois DeBakey. Courtesy National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Cartoons by Dick Putney of the Houston Post
Figure 3
Cartoons by Dick Putney of the Houston Post, commissioned by Lois DeBakey, as they appear throughout her 1981 video lecture “Doctor, are you speaking in tongues?” Courtesy National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101708904-vid
Members of the NLM Permanent Paper Task Force
Figure 4
Members of the NLM Permanent Paper Task Force (from left): Heidi Kyle, conservator, Philosophical Library, American Philosophical Society; Carolyn Morrow Manns, National Preservation Program specialist, Library of Congress; Charles R. Kalina, special projects officer, NLM; Gerard Piel (chair of the Task Force), chairman emeritus, Scientific American; Lois DeBakey, PhD (cochair); Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, director, NLM; Kent Smith, deputy director, NLM; Patricia R. Harris, executive director, National Information Standards Organization. NLM: National Library of Medicine. Photograph from National Library of Medicine News 43:2 (February 1988), p 3. Courtesy National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Winters WL Selma Jr. and Lois DeBakey: Icons of Medical Communication: Selma DeBakey 12/3/1915 – 3/6/2013, Lois DeBakey, Ph.D. 7/6/1920 – 6/15/2016. Methodist DeBakey Cardiovasc J. 016;12(3):188-189. doi: 10.14797/mdcj-12-3-188 - DOI
    1. DeBakey L, DeBakey S. Our silent enemy: ashes in our libraries. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1989. Jul;77(3):258-68. See also DeBakey L. Book-burning in our medical libraries: prevention or palliation? Am J Cardiol. 1988 Sep 1;62(7):458-61. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(88)90978-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. DeBakey L. Every careless word that men utter. I. The English language. Anesth Analg. 1970. Jul-Aug;49(4):567-74. PMID: 5534797; DeBakey L. Every careless word that men utter. II. The language of science. Anesth Analg. 1970 Sep-Oct;49(5):827-34. PMID: 5534443; DeBakey L. Medical gobbledygook and writer’s gookledygobb. IMJ Ill Med J. 1971 Jun;139(6):614-7. PMID: 4397590. DeBakey L, DeBakey S. Medicant: nothing hinders communication as much as words--when they are used badly or incorrectly. Forum Med. 1978 Apr;1(1):38-40, 42-3, 80-1 passim. PMID: 10236707 - PubMed
    1. National Library of Medicine [Internet]. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health; c2022. DeBakey L. Doctor, are you speaking in tongues? 1981. [cited 2022 Mar 1]. Available at: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101708904-vid. The passages read by Lois included selections from Radomisli M. The paper-writing function of the ego. Am J Psychother. 1974 Apr;28(2):278-81. doi: 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy. Ogden CK, Richards IA. The Meaning of Meaning: Study of the Influence of Language Upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.; 1923; Shannon JA, editor. Science and the Evolution of Public Policy. New York: Rockefeller University Press; 1975. 259 p. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Permanent Paper for Biomedical Literature at the National Library of Medicine. In: Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, Report on Progress in Implementing National Policy on Acid-Free Paper. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 1992. p. 17-8.

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