Overview
Repository: Lawrence Gartner, MD, FAAP and Carol Gartner, PhD Pediatric History Center
American Academy of Pediatrics
345 Park Blvd
Itasca, IL 60143
630-626-6000
Contact Us
Title: William A. Silverman Papers
Dates: 1945 - 2004
Physical Description: 4.5 Linear feet
Language(s): English
Summary: Manuscripts for publications and lectures, publication reprints, notes, news articles, invitations, and correspondence created throughout Dr William Silverman’s career in pediatrics, neonatology, medical education and clinical research.
Administrative Information
Provenance: Gift from Mrs. Rose Silverman, 2006.
Information about Access: The collection is open without restriction.
Ownership & Copyright: The collection is the physical property of the Gartner Pediatric History Center. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.
Biographical Note
A leader in pediatrics for more than 60 years, Dr. Silverman authored hundreds of articles, papers and lectures as well as five books. Considered the "father of neonatal care" in the United States, Dr. Silverman pioneered the burgeoning discipline of premature infant care beginning in the early 1940s. His studies of premature infant temperature control, retinopathy of prematurity, and kernicterus are considered classics in the field. He was relentless in his pursuit of "evidence" and insistence on controlled clinical trials in the field. He dedicated much of his later life to work with the blind and to experimental design issues in clinical research. Dr. Silverman graduated from the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco in 1942. He trained at University of California Hospital in San Francisco and The Babies Hospital of Columbia University in New York. He joined the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia in 1946 and for the next 22 years studied the problems of prematurely born infants. Even after retirement, Dr. Silverman remained a key figure in the pediatric world, lecturing, writing, editing publications and mentoring until his death in 2005.
Collection Contents
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1. Published Papers: 1945
2. Published Papers: 1946
3. Published Papers: 1949
4. Published Papers: 1950
5. Published Papers: 1951
6. Published Papers: 1952
7. Published Papers: 1954
8. Published Papers: 1955
9. Published Papers: 1956
10. Published Paper: "A difference in Mortality Rate and Incidence of Kernicterus Among Premature Infants Allotted to Two Prophylactic Antibacterial Regimens" April 9, 1956
11. Published Papers: 1957
12. Published Papers: 1958
13. Published Papers: 1959
14. Published Papers: 1960
15. Published Papers: 1961
16. Published Papers: 1962
17. Published Papers: 1963
18. Published Papers: 1964
19. Published Papers: 1965
20. Published Papers: 1966
21. Published Paper and Notes: A Valved Mask for Respiratory Studies in the Neonate -March 1966
22. Published Paper: "Informed Consent" September 1966
23. Published Papers: 1967
24. Published Paper/Notes: "A controlled Trail of Management of Respiratory Distress Syndrome in a Body-Enclosed Respirator" -March 1967
25. Published Papers: 1968
26. Published Papers: 1969
27. Published Papers: 1970
28. Published Papers: 1971
29. Published Papers: 1972
30. Published Papers: 1976
31. Published Paper: "The Lesson of Retrolental Fibroplasia" -April 1977
32. Published Paper: "Medicine's Millenarianism" Perspectives in Biology and Medicine - Spring 1981
33. Published Papers: 1983
34. Published Paper: "The Public Character of Scientific Medicine" Perspectives in Biology and Medicine -1983
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1. Published Paper and notes w/ correspondences: "Medicine in Immoderation" 1986
2. Published Paper and notes w/ correspondences: "Human Experimentation in Perinatology" June 1987
3. Published Papers: 1988
4. Published Papers: 1989
5. Published Papers: 1991
6. Published Papers: 1993
7. Published Paper and notes w/ correspondences: "Random Allotment" 2000
8. Published Paper and notes w/ correspondences: "Casting and Drawing Lots" 2002
9. Published Paper: "Informed Consent" unknown date
10. Published Paper and notes w/ correspondences: "Retrolental Fibroplasia: A Modern Parable" unknown date
11. Paper Draft: "Civic Aspect of Doctor and Patient Involvement in Clinical Trials" unknown date
12. Paper Draft: "Measurement of Preferences for Control Over Treatment Decisions Among Adults with Cancer" unknown date
13. Paper Draft: "Phototherapy for Neonatal lcterus" unknown date
14. Paper Draft: "Setting a Limit in the Treatment of Neonates: All or None?" unknown date
15. Paper Draft: "Who Defines 'Futility'?" unknown date
16. Paper Draft: "Suspended Judgment: The Most Nobel Goals of Medicine" unknown date ·
17. Paper Draft: "The Future of Clinical Experimentation in Neonatal Medicine"unknown date
18. Paper Draft: "History of Organized Neonatal Special Care" unknown date
19. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "A Hospice Setting for Humane Neonatal Death" from Pediatrics, 1982
20. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "Professional and Public Double Standards on Clinical Experimentation" Oct. 1987
21. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "Is Neonatal Medicine in the U.S. Out of Step?" from Pediatrics, May 20, 1993
22. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "Cooling the AsphyxiatedNewborn - Responsibly" 1997
23. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "ROP- Forme Fruste" fromJournal of Perinatology, 2001
24. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "The Schizophrenic Career of a 'Monster Drug"' from Pediatrics, April 22, 2002
25. Published Commentary and draft: "Replicating Measurements" from Pediatrics, 2003
26. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: "The Unresolved Oxygen-Level Issue: Highjacked by Anti-trialists" from Journal of Perinatology, 2004
27. Published Commentary w/ Correspondences: 'Compassion or Opportunism?" from Pediatrics, Feb. 2, 2004
28. Published Essay: "Patients Preferences and Randomized Trials" from Lancet,1996
29. Published Essay: "Crap-trapping" from Lancet, May 17, 1997
30. Editorial w/ Correspondences: "The 'Hands-on or Hands-off' Dilemma Revisited" from Journal of Perinatology, 1987
31. Editorial w/ Correspondences: "Bad Science and the Role of Institutional Review Boards" from Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Dec. 2000
32. Editorial: "Disclosing the 'Inclusion Benefit"' 2002
33. Editorial Proposal w/ Correspondences: "Retinopathy of Prematurity" to the Second Intl. Retrolental Fibroplasia Conference, July 1980
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1. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Fumes from the Spleen" various dates
2. Published Article from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Mandatory Rescue of Foetal Infants" unknown date
3. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Rule Based Folly at the Moment of Birth" 1998
4. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "How Reliable is the Test of Time'?" 1998
5. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Effects of Premature Exposure to Light: A Credibility Struggle" 1998
6. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Kill the Messenger!" 1998
7. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Secrecy and Rainmaking in Medical Research" 1999
8. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Realism and Fairness in Clinical Trials" 1999
9. Published Article from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Proximate Moral Anguish" 2000
10. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Quis Custodiet lpsos Custodes? (Who Shall Keep Watch Over the Guardians?)" 2000
11. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Overheated News of a 'Medical Breakthrough"' 2000
12. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Making Factual Knowledge Public" 2000
13. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "'Acceptable' and 'Unacceptable' Risks" 2001
14. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Neurosurgical Exorcism" 2001
15. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Getting Doctors to Talk" 2001
16. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Myopic Rescuers" 2001
17. Draft of Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Negative Discovery" 2002
18. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Ambitious Overgeneralization" 2002
19. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "'Collateral Damage' in Perinatal Warfare" 2002
20. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Vital Decisions" 2003
21 . Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Patients as Persons" 2003
22. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Human Perfectibility Redux" 2003
23. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Medicine as Warfare" 2003
24. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Fever - Time for a Reprise?" 2004
25. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Medicine's Therapeutic Imperative - Haunted by the Potential of Tragedy" 2004
26. Draft of Published Article from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: 'The Pharmaceutical Industry's 'Wonder Drug"' 2004
27. Published Article and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Regulatory Bioethics Reconsidered" 2004
28. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Medical Arithmetick"2004
29. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Missing and Unaccounted For" 2004
30. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes from "From Our Own Correspondent" in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology: "Snobbery and Gamesmanship in Medical Research" 2004
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1. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes written under "student": "Who and What?" from Pediatrics, June 1975
2. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Incubator Baby Side Show" from Pediatrics, Aug. 1979
3. Published Article: "Fetal Heart-Rate Monitoring" from The Lancet, Sept. 22, 1979
4. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Medical Inflation" from Biology and Medicine, 1980
5. Published Article: "Mismatched Attitudes About Neonatal Death" from The Hastings Center Report, 1981
6. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Quo Vadimus?" from Pediatrics, Nov. 5, 1981
7. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Russian Roulette in the Nursery - Again" from Pediatrics, March 3, 1982
8. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Subversion as a Constructive Activity in Medicine" from Perspectives in Biology Medicine, 1986
9. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Epoche in Retinopathy of Prematurity" from Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1986
10. Published Article w/ Correspondences: "Sample Size, Receptiveness and Credibility in Pragmatic Neonatal Trials" from American Journal of Perinatology, April 1987
11. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "The Pejorative Image of 'Human Experimentation"' from Clinics in Perinatology, June 2, 1987
12. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "In Search of the Spirit of Babies Hospital" from The New York Centennial, 1987
13. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Neonatal Pediatrics at the Century Mark" from Perspectives in Medicine and Biology, Winter 1989
14. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Over-treatment of Neonates? A Personal Retrospective" from Pediatrics, Dec. 6, 1992
15. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Post Hoc, Propter Hoc" from Making Better Decisions, Spring 1994
16. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "The Future of Clinical Experimentation in Neonatal Medicine" from Pediatrics, June 2, 1994
17. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Double-Masked Screening of 'Methods' in Research Proposals" from The Lancet, 1995
18. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Effectiveness, Efficiency ... and Subjective Choice" from Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 1995
19. Published Article w/ Notes: "Medical Decisions: An Appeal for Reasonableness" from Pediatrics, Dec. 6, 1996
20. Draft of Published Article and Notes: "An Historical Perspectives on Newborn Care" from Rudolph's Pediatrics, 2000
21. Draft of Published Article and Notes: "The 'Shoot-First. .. ' Syndrome in Neonatal Medicine" unknown publication 2001
22. Published Article: In French "Parents of Pre-matures" from Quebec Publications, 2001
23. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Unnatural Selection" from Pediatrics, June 6, 2001
24. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Restraining the Unsustainable" from Pediatrics, Dec. 4, 2002
25. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "A Cautionary Tale About
Supplemental Oxygen: The Albatross of Neonatal Medicine" from Pediatrics, Sept. 26, 2003
26. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "Personal Reflections About the First Randomized Trials Involving Neonates From 1951 - 1967" from Pediatrics, July 1, 2004
27. Published Article w/ Correspondences and Notes: "On Reflection: The Power of Labels: from The Lancet, Sept. 11 , 2004
28. Proof of Published Article: "Retinopathy of Prematurity Over the Patient's Life" for Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, unknown date
29. Letter to the Editor and Correspondences: "The Divisive Effect of Reductionist Snobbery" from Pediatric Research, 1983
30. Sampling of Letters to the Editor: submitted under either unidentified names or using a pseudonym, various publications
31. Sampling of Letters to the Editor: submitted under "student", various publications
32. Sampling of Letters to the Editor: submitted under William A. Silverman, MD, various publications
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1. Lecture of unknown date or place: About Blindness in Newborns
2. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Preemies on the Pike in San Francisco"
3. Lecture of unknown date or place: "How We Make Sense Out of Information in Medicine"
4. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Lessons Out of the Mouths of Babes: Four Decades of Recurring Treatment Disasters Involving Neonates"
5. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Informed Consent"
6. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Neonatology's Unrestrained Behavior"
7. Lecture of unknown date or place: "The Future"
8. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Where's the Evidence?"
9. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Balance Between Good and Harm inMedicine"
10. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Oxygen"
11 . Lecture of unknown date or place: "Reckless Disregard for Rules-of Evidence"
12. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Evidence as a Buzz Word"
13. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Moral Dilemmas of Bioethics"
14. Lecture of unknown date or place: premature births, incubators and a 125 year old hospital
15. Lecture of unknown date or place: controversy about the care of marginallyviable neonates
16. Lecture of unknown date or place: "Ethical and Economical Consequences of Premature Births"
17. Lecture of unknown date: "Evidence and Carrying Coal to New Castle" at McMaster University in Ontario
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1. Lecture: "First Richard L. Day Lectureship" at Babies Hospital in New York, April 8, 1975
2. Lecture: "Limitations of Observational Data " at Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1980
3. Lecture: "Daniel Y. E. Perry Research Lecture" at McMaster University Medical School in Ontario, 1982
4. Lecture: "Richard L. Day - The Quintessential Skeptical Thinker" Presentation of the Howland Award, 1986
5. Lecture: "Samuel Belkin Memorial Lecture" at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, 1987
6. Lecture: "Some Concepts That Underpin Study Design" at the International Workshop for Neonatologists in Zurich, 1987
7. Lecture: "Neonatal Pediatrics at the Century Mark" at the Centennial Meeting of the American Pediatric Society in Washington D.C., May 3, 1988
8. Lecture: "Retrolental Fibroplasia: Guide Dogs and the Blind" 1990
9. Lecture: "Celebration of Gabriel Due's 60th Birthday" Jan. 16, 1992
10. Lecture: New York Academy of Science, March 1993
11. Lecture w/ Correspondences: "The Windermere Lecture: The Line Between 'Knowing" and 'Doing"' at Oxford, 1994
12. Lecture: "Effectiveness and Efficiency'' at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England, march 17, 1994
13. Lecture: "F. Stanley Porter Lecture" at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. June 2, 1994
14. Lecture w/ Correspondences: "In Memory of Adolphe Pinard and Pierre: 100 Years of Child Care in Port Royal" in Paris, Oct. 1995
15. Lecture: "From Authority Based to Evidence - Based Care of the Neonate" at Gartner Symposium in Chicago, May 1998
16. Lecture: " Hands-on" at McMaster University in Ontario 1998
17. Lecture w/ Correspondences and Notes: 'The Newfangled Morality: Bioethics" at the League of Women Voters, Oct. 8, 1999
18. Lecture: " Ethics of Caring for Extremely Premature Infants" at the University of Texas in Houston, March 15, 2000
19. Lecture: "Frances Glenn Mayson" in Atlanta, May 3, 2000
20. Lecture: At the California Assoc. of Neonatologists, March 3, 2001
21. Lecture: "Thomas Cone Lecture on Perinatal History'' in San Francisco, Oct. 20, 2001
22. Lecture: "Enkin Lecture" at McMaster University in Ontario, May 2, 2002
23. Lecture: in Winnipeg, 2003
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1. Various Correspondences: 1957
2. Various Correspondences: 1968
3. Various Correspondences: 1977
4. Various Correspondences: 1978
5. Various Correspondences: 1979
6. Various Correspondences: 1980
7. Various Correspondences: 1981
8. Various Correspondences: 1982
9. Various Correspondences: 1986
10. Various Correspondences: 1987
11. Various Correspondences: 1989
12. Various Correspondences: 1991
13. Various Correspondences: 1994
14. Various Correspondences: 1995
15. Various Correspondences: 1996
16. Various Correspondences: 1997
17. Various Correspondences: 1998
18. Various Correspondences: 1999
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1. Various Correspondences: 2000
2. Various Correspondences: 2001
3. Various Correspondences: 2002
4. Various Correspondences: 2003
5. Various Correspondences: 2004
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1. Book Notes and Correspondences: Human Experimentation
2. Book Notes and Correspondences: Where's the Evidence?
3. Book Reviews by various publications of Dr. Silverman's Book: Retrolental Fibroplasia - A Modern Parable, book published 1980
4. Book Reviews by various publications of Dr. Silverman's Book: Human Experimentation: A Guided Step into the Unknown, book published 1985
5. Book Reviews by various publications of Dr. Silverman's Book: Retinopathy of Prematurity, book published 1985
6. Book Reviews by various publications of Dr. Silverman's Book: Ethics and Perinatology. book published 1995
7. Book Reviews by various publications of Dr. Silverman's Book: Where's the Evidence? book published 1999
8. Book Review by Dr. Silverman and Correspondences: Preschool IQ - Perinatal and Early Developmental Correlates, Oct. 1975
9. Various Book Reviews by Dr. Silverman: 1986 - 1996
10. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Virginia Apgar
11. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: L. Joseph Butterfield
12. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: John Caffey
13. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Archie Cochrane
14. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Thomas Cone
15. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Dick Day
16. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Ethel Dunham
17. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Sir Austin "Tony" Bradford Hill
18. Other Doctors About Whom Dr. Silverman Wrote: Rusty McIntosh
19. Publication Edited by Dr. Silverman: "Suspended Judgment: Memories of the British Streptomycin Trial in TB" by Sir Austin Bradford Hill, 1990
20. Other Publication Citing Dr. Silverman's Works: Various Publications
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1. Groups and Projects: Correspondences and Material for Hastings Center "Goals of Medicine Project", 1994
2. Groups and Projects: Correspondences and Material for the Scientific Integrity Working Group, Oct. 20, 1994
3. Groups and Projects: Correspondences and Material for POST ROP (Pulse Oximetry Saturation Trial for Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity), 2003
4. Volunteer Work: Blind Babies Foundation
5. Awards: Literature and Correspondences - Mead Johnson Award, Oct. 21, 1958
6. Awards: Literature and Correspondences - Apgar Award, Oct. 16, 1979
7. Awards: Literature and Correspondences - 1956 paper declared a "Citation Classic", Feb. 1980
8. Awards: Literature and Correspondences - BMA Medical Book Award
9. Awards: Literature and Correspondences - William G. Bartholome Award for Ethical Excellence at American Academy of Pediatrics, Oct. 12, 2001
10. Awards: Literature and Correspondences -American Foundation for the Blind Migel Medal, Nov. 4, 2003
11. Articles about Dr. Silverman, along with tributes and thanks: Various Publications
12. Speech about Dr. Silverman: by Brian Wallstin
13. In Memory Of: Lankspur Library Honoring the Memory of William A. Silverman, MD
14. DVD: Bill Silverman - A celebration of his life March 18, 2005
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1. Encyclopedia Britannica: Dr. Silverman's contribution about incubators, 1959
2. Work on Retrolental Fibroplasia: various notes, correspondences and materials
3. Materials: Incubator Babies
4. Cartoons: Various clippings that Dr. Silverman put in lectures and publications
5. Quotes: Various clippings that Dr. Silverman put in lectures and publications
6. Illustrations for Yaglow Lecture, 1960
7. Photo of Dr. Silverman with Sir Austin Bradford Hill, 1982
8. Photo for Publication: "The Public Character of Scientific Medicine", 1983
9. Photos and Slides of Howland Award to Richard Day, MD, May 1986
10. Photos for Lecture: Samuel Belkin Memorial at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, 1987
11. Slides and Negative: "Over treatment of Neonates?" Dec. 6, 1992
12. Misc. Slides and Photos for Various Lectures
Last Updated
10/21/2020
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics