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From Dr. William LeWorthy of Lincoln, Nebraska, past president: On overhearing a disappointed bellhop at a convention hotel: Gee, I thought these plastic surgeons’ wives would be perfectly beautiful dames! But, no, they have wrinkles, the same as the rest of us. Bill LeWorthy quickly explained to the young man that plastic surgeons work primarily with congenital malformations, cancer, burns, post trauma reconstruction and accident victims, that cosmetic surgery is usually a small part of what they do, and that they seldom have the time or desire to operate on their own wives.
From Dr. Richard Heimburger, of Jefferson City, Missouri, Past Treasurer, quoting Hugh Johnson and stating his own opinion about volunteer service in under-served areas: Once you have done missionary work, you are infected. It becomes like a disease. You want to do more and see more. You understand the value of living with other people and working with problems you never, ever had a home – the satisfaction of doing something where it really counts and taking no monetary compensation for it. that is really a gift of self that is never resented.
From Dr. Robert Parsons, of Chicago, MAPS past president: In reference to plans for the fourth decade, would MAPS benefit from publishing a newsletter? If so, how often should it be published? What format should it have? What kinds of news would you be interested in hearing? Who should edit this newsletter?
From Dr. Elvin Zook of Springfield, Illinois, past president of MAPS and past president of ASPRS: MAPS has given members the opportunity to meet in a small group atmosphere of congeniality. It has also supplied the residents and avenue for presentations and learning. I think in the future it will also have to become more politically involved, both in the national plastic surgical field and in health care changes.
From Dr. Henry Onken of St. Louis, Missouri, past vice president and 1997 President Elect: Before I became an officer, I underestimated the value of MAPS. The longer I have been a member, the more I have appreciated this society. When I went to the ASPRS meeting, I found that it was the same as MAPS, except that at the MAPS meetings I knew more people … Being an officer has meant a great deal to me and has made me feel closer to my colleagues in the Midwest. I now have a better idea of who they are and what they are doing. I have gathered many “pearls” from the meetings and have used them in my practice. I guess, just like any other professional, MAPS has given me the satisfaction of being part of things.
Dr. Hugh Johnson was interviewed by Dr. George S. Pap in May, 1992, on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the founding of MAPS. Hugh died on July 21, 1992, some two months later, from complications of open heart surgery. His death, in turn, turned this recorded conversation into a document of historical significance.
George S. Pap: Hugh, you said that the first informal planning meeting, before MAPS was officially born, took place in Madison, Wisconsin, in the Spring of 1961.
Hugh A. Johnson: Yes. Frank Bernard agreed to serve as the host. We invited a small group of people. Only a dozen or so attended … Yet, I recall that several of us, including Stuart Landa, Frank Bernard and I, had papers or case presentations.
GSP: What happened after that initial meeting?
HAJ: Within a year or so, there was a very enthusiastic response. Many young plastic surgeons in the Midwest wanted to see a regional society formed. You saw that … You were there.
GSP: Why did you and the other surgeons who were active from the beginning think that it was important to start a regional organization?
HAJ: For one thing, we all had similar problems we wanted to share, but there wasn’t any friendly forum where we could comfortably do this. The national societies had already gotten too big and the programs were taken up by formal presentations, committee meetings and such. It would have been very difficult to set up regional round-table discussion even for a half day.
GSP: Considering that, there was a real need for such an organization, would you say that MAPS has grown and developed in the past decades as you thought It would?
HAJ: Oh, more than that! MAPS has grown far beyond my expectations. I didn’t even dream that we would ever have such high quality academic programs, such outstanding papers, and that we would have more than 300 members. I thought that people would want to reserve their best papers for the national meetings. It was amazing to see the caliber of the work that was being done in the Midwest, which wasn’t always getting national attention.
GSP: What should we do in the future that isn’t being done right now
HAJ: I would get the Confession Sessions reinstated and would get as many of the younger surgeons as possible to participate. I would assign these doctors specific topics for presentation and review. I would ask for volunteers to present their problem cases, their complications, their good and bad results. And I would open each topic for discussion. I think some of the older surgeons have tried to get away from that format. They don’t want to show their worst cases and complications any more. They don’t want to admit that they, too, have problems they can’t solve. I would like to see those candid case discussion and problem-sharing sessions come back.
GSP: Is that the only part of the old format that you miss?
HAJ: Early on we also had everyone submit their high, low and average fees for comparison. Not to regulate fees but to have some yardstick to go by. It was very helpful. Fortunately, nobody ever interpreted this as price-fixing, as each doctor went home and decided on fees according to what he thought was fair.
GSP: Hugh, what are some of your (sic) most vivid memories from the MAPS meetings?
HAJ: The most vivid memory that comes to mind right now is when Clarence Monroe showed slides of a young man with a basal cell epithelioma that he followed for many years, until the patient died. He has almost nothing left on his face at all. The face had been irradiated down to the bone. I close my eyes and still see this horrible skull-like face that had once belonged to a handsome young man. It had been a terrible case, and the radiation therapy had been badly managed.
GSP: And of pleasant memories?
HAJ: I enjoyed going to meetings in the smaller cities. I got to know so much about our country and about the beauty of some of our less well known Midwestern towns. For example, who would ever think of having a nice four-day vacation in Wichita, Kansas, or in Green Bay, Wisconsin? Yet they are beautiful resort towns, you could say, with much to do and see that is interesting and truly American. And there are many other cities like that in the Midwest that people never think of visiting.
GSP: I would like to ask you now a political question: Should the presidency be rotated geographically, among representatives of the different states, or should it rather be offered to heads of training programs and university research people?
HAJ: We rotate geographically in the beginning, as you know … well, more or less. It seemed to work very well, but that’s a decision that each nominating committee has to make, knowing that the meeting will have to take place in the president’s town. The university people tend to stick together some much more. Sometimes they form cliques that control organizations. As a regional society, we must insure that this doesn’t happen within MAPS.
GSP: Hugh, a historical question now – how did you get the idea for the association’s logo?
HAJ: I wanted something that was correct from a heraldic point of view. Then I learned that Sonia Patterson was an expert in heraldry at Oxford, so I approached her with the problem of a motto and a design. I am sure her husband, Tom Patterson, had nothing to do with the inscription “wound to heal”, which is the translation of the Latin motto. In any case, she designed a very nice logo, original and correct, from the heraldic point of view.
GSP: A final question: Both you and I have been on medical missions to Third World countries and have been immensely enriched by these experiences. Dou you think that this type of medical work should be one of the priorities of MAPS? To go abroad, to teach, to help and to contribute to world affairs?
HAJ: Absolutely! To go abroad and teach, to train other doctors in our specialty – there just can’t be too much of that. There more we do, the better. That should always be one of our priorities at MAPS, to encourage other young surgeons to do what we did – to continue the tradition.
As you have read in the preceding pages, the responses we received were, for the most part, very positive. If anyone has had any misgivings or disappointments about MAPS programs, policies or events over the years, it was not communicated to us. The comments we did receive were complimentary, encouraging, at times even sentimental. The conclusions, after all responses were tabulated, were:
1) MAPS is a vital, friendly organization, very much in tune with the current issues in plastic surgery 2) The programs are of significant practical value. The meetings are a superb forum for making and renewing friendships and professional connections.
3) MAPS can serve as a network for patient referrals within the Midwest
4) MAPS follows a liberal tradition of membership diversity and is minimally politicized, as compared to other medical-surgical organizations.
5) MAPS is very supportive of residents, training centers and even medical students who might be contemplating a career in plastic surgery.
6) MAPS has been managed prudently and it now uses the surplus monies to fund awards for clinical and research excellence.
7) MAPS encourages and participates in volunteer service in underserved areas of the Midwest.
8) People who have been active in this organization have remained loyal for many years and their sons are now becoming members.
One could say, without exaggerating, that MAPS is in excellent health today. And, judging by the above parameters, it seems to have greatly surpassed the most ambitious dreams of Hugh Johnson and the handful of young surgeons who met in Madison, Wisconsin, three decades ago, to start a regional society for the central Midwest. By early 1995, when this history was completed, MAPS had had 35 presidents, 15 of whom were now deceased. It was indeed time to write things down, before some important facts got permanently lost. We hope this brief chronicle will serve that purpose.
Lucia Fischer Pap, M.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Rockford, where she introduced the first Student Essay Contest in 1991. She is the author of two published books and some 350 papers, articles and stories, a former editor of the Northern Illinois Medical Journal and past Contributing Editor of the Dermatology/Allergy Journal. In 1979, she was the chief judge for the American Medical Writers Association Annual Book Awards. She is the wife of 1983 MAPS President George S. Pap, M.D., the mother of two children and grandmother of four girls.
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