Eulogy Delivered by Jerome Lowenstein , MD
Professor of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine
At the Funeral Services for Saul J. Farber, MD
October 12, 2006
Saul J. Farber, MD
My name is Jerry Lowenstein. I am honored to speak about Dr. Farber. I know that what I say will resonate with the feelings of many others here today.
I met Dr. Farber when I was a Third Year medical student in 1956. I remember that presenting a patient to Dr. Farber was a daunting experience that required us to understand each patient’s illness in all its dimensions. One had to know the person as well as the pathophysiology.
I was lucky enough to spend my year of Chief Residency when Dr. Farber was Acting Chief of Medicine in 1962. I met with him each morning to briefly present every patient admitted to the Medical Service over the previous 24 hours. He asked questions that often sent me back to the bedside or the textbook; he made notes on small cards slotted into a large book, and invariably asked questions that challenged me to think more deeply or examine my assumptions. I joined him on his weekly teaching rounds and watched the care with which he spoke with and examined patients. He was a master of bedside teaching. Over the more than 30 years that he was Chief of Medicine, a generation of students—that comes to about 5000 graduates of our school—shared this experience. And that was only a part of his great legacy.
I learned the meaning of dedication when I passed him in his office each evening as I left for home. I watched him reading a textbook or journal to prepare for his Saturday morning meetings with students or for CPC conferences. I learned from Dr. Farber what it means to be a member of a learned profession—a scholar and a teacher.
In the last week of my Chief Residency we had an epidemic of methanol poisoning in New York City and more than 20 patients were on the NYU medical service. Dr. Farber gave me the key to his research lab so that I could help provide support to care for these very sick men. I performed countless measurements of blood gas and blood pH. Each morning I rounded with Dr. Farber. I could hardly say “no” when he called me on Sunday morning asking whether I could meet him to make rounds on “the methanol patients’.
As I began my fellowship in Nephrology I learned from Dr. Farber how one could go from clinical observations at the bedside to the laboratory to find answers. His studies on the role of the kidney in heart failure were a model of research that grows out of patient care.
I learned about wisdom and compassion as I watched him weigh important decisions about medical students and house staff.
I admired his vision in allowing our Department of Medicine to develop programs in Humanistic Medicine and professionalism years before it became fashionable in medical education.
Most of all, I learned from Dr. Farber, the true meaning of loyalty. It is a lesson that I will never forget.
I believe I got it right when I wrote, 10 years ago, “I have heard him repeat lessons he learned from his family and his teachers. Some of his teachings are so woven into my character that I can no longer recognize their origins.”
I truly loved this man.
