A few tears came to my eyes as I initially read “One Tough Surgeon: Muriel Steele, MD,” written by William Blaisdell, MD.
I never got to meet Dr Steele, even though in 1979 I did a fourth-year medical student rotation in vascular surgery at the University of California–San Francisco. That rotation changed my life because later in training at the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA), I chose to pursue a career in vascular surgery. Dr Steele died in 1979; I wish I could have met her. No one mentioned her name to me while I was there. I wish that they had. Perhaps she could have told me some stories; I am sure she had plenty! Perhaps those stories could have helped me negotiate my way through my surgical career.
She could have given me insight on how to deal with such surgical icons as Donald Trunkey, William Blaisdell, George Sheldon, and others who were training me at UCLA from 1980 to 1987.