The Physician’s Challenge | Dr. Richard L. DeGowin | $19.99 | Isbn 9781948509244 | 252p | Medicine | Medical Research | Memoir
Two books in one: Book I: A Chance for Redemption: Contributions of Men Behind Bars
Book II: Discovery is Our Business
A true insider’s look into medicine and research. We start with the Malaria Project at the Stateville Penitentiary Joliet, Illinois; 1960’sand Nathan Leopold and the process and the men who volunteered for studies and served on the staff of the Malaria Project, and to the doctors whose stories I tell with admiration and affection.
“The Physician’s Challenge is a fascinating summary of recollections from Dr. Richard DeGowin and his experience as a hematology researcher. It illustrates what has changed, and not changed, over the past fifty years with respect to a broad range of issues that are pertinent today including the science itself, medical ethics of clinical research and collaboration across disciplines.”
—George Weiner, M.D., Director, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at
The University of Iowa
“A fascinating ride with the author, Dr. Richard DeGowin, during his experiences in medicine. The stories range across the personal and professional, including the ethical aspects of human experimentation with attention to “informed consent” in the search for a cure for malaria, involving incarcerated prison volunteers. Stories of interactions with a number of outstanding scientists at the University of Iowa and Chicago Schools of Medicine, as well as military and prison officers, offer fascinating insights. You may meet some old friends or acquaintances here as well.”
—Charles E. Platz, MD, (University of Chicago) Professor Emeritus Surgical Pathology, The University of Iowa
“This book follows the author’s time in the army starting with his initial assignment to Fort Sam Houston in the days when a martini in the officer’s club cost ten cents. Sprinkled throughout are humorous vignettes of his time in the army, but focus is on the Malaria Project, officially called the University of Chicago-Army Medical Research Project at Stateville Penitentiary. At the time malaria was a serious world-wide disease but one form, Plasmodium falciparum, was resistant to all drugs used to treat the other forms. It was the job of the doctors in the Malaria Project to find a cure.
The Malaria Project was a band of dedicated researchers who worked with convicts at the Illinois State Penitentiary Stateville. These convicts, many of whom had a limited time to serve, still volunteered to be given malaria and then a variety of drugs in order to find those that would be effective against the disease.
As a bonus, Book 2 Discovery is Our Business depicts a group of outstanding researchers at The University of Chicago School of Medicine who contributed many advances in medicine.”
— Robert E. Rakel, MD, Founding Chairman of Family Medicine at The University of Iowa, and at Baylor University