Dr Guralnick's 'Secret' Mission.

Walter C. Guralnick, a major figure in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, educational innovator, master surgeon and mentor died, surrounded by family, on September 6, 2017 at Massachusetts General Hospital, the institution he loved and served for 65 years. Like others of his generation, Dr Guralnick served in the Armed Services in Europe during World War II. Little was known of his activities with the 7th General Hospital and of his contributions to the war effort. This paper brings together material from military, local and overseas archives to provide an insight into his life and work during those years.

Keeping ether "en-vogue": the role of Nathan Cooley Keep in the history of ether anesthesia.

In this report, we explore the little known role of Dr Nathan Cooley Keep in the dissemination of ether anesthesia in Boston. Keep was a prominent Boston dentist who, for a short time, taught and employed both William Morton and Horace Wells. He used ether anesthesia for a variety of dental and other surgical procedures requiring pain control. Keep administered ether to anesthetize Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife during the delivery of their daughter. This was the first use of ether for obstetric anesthesia. Dr Keep was also the first Dean of the Harvard Dental School and convinced the Massachusetts General Hospital to appoint a dentist to the staff of the hospital for the first time.

Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School MD oral and maxillofacial surgery program: a 30-year review.

PURPOSE: The first resident enrolled in the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard MD Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (MD/OMFS) program graduated from Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 1972. The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the first 30 years of the program and to outline plans for its future. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study and the sample was composed of the residents enrolled in the MD/OMFS program between 1971 and 2000. Study variables included the dental school from which the resident graduated, successful completion of the MD/OMFS program, performance on parts I and II of the United States Medical Licensing Examination/National Board of Medical Examinations (USMLE/NBME), HMS grades, and career trajectories (full- or part-time academic or private practice). Appropriate descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed for all study variables. RESULTS: During the study interval, 56 residents entered the MD/OMFS program and graduated from HMS. All members of the cohort, regardless of the dental school from which they graduated, performed well as evidenced by USMLE/NBME scores and medical school grades. Ninety-four percent of eligible graduates have completed the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery examination. The pass rate was 100%. Thirty-four graduates are involved in full- or part-time academic practice. Four trainees completed medical school but did not complete the OMFS program. CONCLUSION: The overwhelming majority of trainees completed the program, became board certified, and currently practice OMFS or a related specialty. A disproportionate number entered academic careers.

[Long term follow-up results of Chinese prescription "Shen Yang" in the combined and sequential treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long term therapeutic effect of Chinese prescription "Shen Yang" in the combined and sequential therapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma cases. METHODS: There are 238 cases with oral squamous cell carcinoma. They were divided into two groups randomly as "Shen Yang" experiment group and control group (placebo). 25 cases were precluded from the experiment group. 17 of them were due to unexperiment of taking "Shen Yang" within three months. 8 cases were lost of follow-up. 213 patients were included in this study. Among them, 104 cases in experiment group, and 109 cases in control one. Patients in both groups were followed-up for 5-10 years. Their life-curve was calculated by means of Logrank method. RESULTS: The survival rate of "Shen Yang" group was improved by 8.46%, 9.26%, 9.04% and 8.57% for 3-year, 5-year, 8-year and 10-year survival rates. But the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (P=0.1936, P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Chinese prescription of "Shen Yang" had a tendency to improve the survival rate for oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.