Born in 1921 to Jewish immigrant parents, “Barney” Barnett
describes his life in medicine and education, from his earliest love of science
and learning through his medical and residency education in general internal
medicine, his success as an academic physician, and finally his judicious
decision to retire.
An important leitmotiv is the antisemitism of the University of Toronto that
kept him from a residency position (he went to Minneapolis) and a staff
position (he was offered a one-year fellowship on a low salary in 1951).
Even after he was accepted as a staff member at the Toronto General
Hospital (TGH), he was not promoted. Although he referred many patients to his
TGH colleagues, only six ever returned the favor in the thirteen years he was
there. Ironically, his Jewish background plucked him from this pedestrian
position directly to the seat of Physician in Chief of Toronto’s Mount Sinai
hospital (founded 1922) when finally it became a teaching hospital in
1964.
While maintaining a practice in internal medicine, Berris became a liver
specialist and researcher who introduced liver biopsy to Toronto. Known as a
consummate diagnostician, he endeavored to enhance the research profile of his
institution, integrating it with bedside instruction. He served on examining
committees for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, candidly
describing the subjectivity of the process. He also served on many committees
of the College of Physicians of Ontario, including discipline, and describes the process used to investigate complaints with
case examples.
His story includes vivid descriptions of some of the most famous figures in
Canadian medical history, his teachers and colleagues – J.B. Grant, Arthur W.
Ham, William Boyd, Ray Farquharson, K.J.R.Wightman, Arthur Squires, and Arnold
Aberman. He was once involved with the care of the wife of David Ben-Gurion and
Queen Elizabeth II.
Little is told of his personal life, although he admits that he often neglected
his family for the press of work. His first wife, Marie, was a social worker;
they had three children, one now a physician. She died of ovarian cancer; to
care for her, he stepped down as chief in 1977. In 1984, he married
Thelma Rosen, an expert in education and widow of a pediatrician colleague.
Together they went on a year’s sabbatical that allowed him to work in
Singapore, Stanford University, and Sheila Sherlock’s lab at the Royal Free
Hospital in London.
Some of the most engaging chapters contain clinical vignettes: stories about
patients, the diagnostic workup, and their outcomes. Like Richard
Goldbloom (A
Lucky Life) and without diminishing his native abilities (which must have
been considerable), he modestly attributes most of his success to
luck.
