Class of 1970 Commemorative Biographical Book

E DWA R D F E I N G L A S S

Email: efeinglass@me.com

Postgraduate Training/Certification: Internship: University of Florida, 1970-71 Residency: The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1971-72 Center for Disease Control, Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), 1972-74 Rheumatology Fellowship: The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1974-76 Board Certification: Internal Medicine, Rheumatology Professional and Volunteer Awards and Recognition: Retired from Grove Hill Medical Group/Starling Physicians; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Connecticut Name(s) of Children and Grandchildren: Evan (m. Megan), Noah and Julia (Sprague, Connecticut) Ellie (m. Kebba)/Tendai and Amara (Maputo, Mozambique) Narrative: After completing my fellowship, we moved to Connecticut and, after six months of renting, bought a home in West Hartford. Though Cookie and I had seven addresses in the first nine years of our marriage, we’ve purchased only one home and have been there for about 43 years. Maryland natives, we’ve come to love New England (with the exception of the Patriots) in its scale, history, and easy access to such a varied natural and cultural landscape. Until retiring about seven years ago, I practiced rheumatology in a large (currently 170 physicians) multi- specialty group in the greater Hartford area. I was, for many years, the chief of the division of rheumatology at the Hospital of Central Connecticut, a teaching hospital of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. For ten years, I directed the rheumatology clinic at the school’s affiliated VA Hospital. However, the preponderant portion of my time was always spent in direct patient care; and it was a joy. I think that we were fortunate to have trained and practiced during extraordinary times in the history of medicine. In my specialty, our armamentarium evolved from one in which we utilized agents developed for other purposes (e.g. steroids, immunosuppressives, antimalarials) with their nonspecific, and often uncertain mechanisms (even utilizing heavy Spouse or Partner’s Name: Sherry (Cookie)

metal gold), to targeted therapies developed as a result of a basic understanding of disease mechanisms at the cellular level. Rheumatology was one of the earliest specialties to benefit from the fruits of such research. The development of biologics has had a revolutionary and gratifying impact on the spectrum of rheumatic diseases and on what we and our patients can realistically hope, with respect to outcomes. The intellectual rigor and commitment that was demonstrated and personified so regularly by faculty and house staff during our Hopkins years were for me, and I’m sure all of my classmates, invaluable foundations for our life’s work, whether at the bedside, the desk, the lab bench, or the podium. It was a central component in the quality of my professional experience and served me well elsewhere when critical thinking was in order. There was, however, another side to this physician thing that was inferred by these training experiences but could only be nurtured in the trenches over years of practice. In illness, there is the disease and there is the individual, the patient. Rheumatology is a specialty in which long term doctor-patient relationships are the rule. Empathy and flexibility serve us well. Algorithms may be useful, but we must always be attuned to individual personality and culture. In the end, it was this relationship with patients, as individuals, that I miss most since retiring seven years ago. But I have retired, and so far, so good. Our son works at the University of Connecticut main campus and lives with his

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